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right 
requ 
metl 


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32X 


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d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
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premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

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dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  methods. 


t  2  3 


32X 


1  2  3 

4  5  6 


I 


I  • 


POPULAR  CONTROL 


OF  THE 


LIQUOR  TRAFFIC 


BY 


E.  R.  L  GOULD 

Lecturer  on  Sorial  Economics  and  Statistics, 
Johns  Hopkins   University 


PRESS    OF    THK    !•  RIEDKN  VVALD   CO. 

BALTIMORE 

189s 


50727 


I 


.  '  / 


I 


Copyright  by  the  Author,  1895. 


1 


H 


< 


CONTENTS. 

Introduction 5 

Chapter  I. — Legal  Basis  of  the  Scandinaviaii  System,     9 
CiiAi'TER  II. — Results  of  the  Scandinavian  System  .    .     34 

Chapter  III. — The  Company  System  the  Best  Method 
of  Control 70 

Index loi 


INTRODUCTION. 


A  wise  control  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  one  of  the  most 
pressing  social  problems  of  the  age.  Immoderate 
drinking  is  universally  recognized  as  a  leading  factor 
in  crime,  pauperism,  and  a  host  of  moral  evils.  Its 
economic  significance  is  by  no  means  so  clearly  under- 
stood. The  annual  drink  bill  of  the  United  Kingdom 
approaches  $700,000,000.  In  the  United  States  not 
far  from  $1,000,000,000  are  spent  evdy  year  in  alco- 
holic indulgence.  In  Germany,  Austria  and  France 
the  consumption  of  both  spirituous  and  malt  beverages 
is  progressing  at  a  dangerous  pace.  Belgium  to-day 
has  a  liquor-shop  for  every  thirty-nine  inhabitants — a 
situation  almost  justifying  the  remark  of  Quirini,  a 
Venetian  envoy  in  1505,  that  there  liquor  replaces  water 
as  the  fourth  cosmic  element. 

The  danger  resident  in  these  huge  national  liquor 
bills  reaches  beyond  misery  and  moral  degradation. 
Civilization  itself  is  menaced  by  the  growing  economic 
waste.  If  it  be  true — and  there  seems  to  be  a  general 
opinion  to  that  effect — that  excesses  are  less  frequent 
now  than  formerly  amongst  the  upper  classes,  the 
burden  must  be  falling  chiefly  upon  those  who  are  rela- 
tively least  ible  to  support  it.  Certainly  the  family 
budget  of  the  wage-earner  is  not  so  flexible  that  liberal 
expenditures  for  drink  may  be  made  with  impunity. 
So  delicately  adjusted  is  the  balance  that  the  status  of 
a  new  generation  is  largely  determined  by  the  quan- 
tity of  liquor  the  fathers  consume.     Let  all  interested 


IN'TRODUCTION'. 


in  tlic  wcllbciiij^  ol"  democracy  rcineml)cr  this  tunda- 
montal  fact. 

In  tlie  course  of  official  experience  I  liave  had  occa- 
sion to  investigate  the  social  condition  of  several 
thousand  workint^nien's  families  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States.  One  result  of  these  pbservations  shows 
that  had  alcoholic  drinks  been  entirely  abjured,  each 
family,  on  the  average,  mit»ht  have  added  two  more 
rooms  to  its  habitation.  Abstinence  consistently  fol- 
lowed by  industrial  operatives  over  a  period  of  years 
would  have  created  a  fund  sufficient  to  purchase  a 
home  and  to  appreciably  elevate  the  standard  of  life. 
As  it  is,  saloonkeepers,  if  the  figures  are  representa- 
tive, receive  from  this  element  of  the  population  in 
five  leading  countries  of  the  world  three-fifths  as  much 
as  landlords. 

The  liquor  interest  in  recent  years  has  grown  to  be 
a  factor  of  considerable  political  importance.  Espe- 
cially in  American  cities  has  its  baneful  influence  been 
felt.  Should  the  representatives  of  the  traffic  gain 
still  greater  prestige,  as  they  surely  will  if  not  checked, 
civic  life  will  be  corrupted  to  the  roots.  Entire  disso- 
ciation is  the  only  safeguard. 

Few  people  will  deny  that  the  liquor  traffic  presents 
grave  public  dangers.  Yet  there  is  wide  divergence 
of  views  regarding  proper  methods  of  control.  A 
most  exemplary  body  of  citizens  would  like  to  see 
radical  repression  attempted  by  law.  A  still  larger 
contingent  are  partisans  of  a  liberty  so  broad  as  to  be 
anarchic.  Between  these  two  stand  the  great  masses 
of  the  people,  not  committed  to  any  particular  doc- 
trines, well  enough  disposed,  perhaps,  but  failing  to 
appreciate  the  urgency  of  action.  They  profess  them- 
selves disgusted  with  fanaticism,  while  apprehensive 


INTRODUCTION. 


i 


uf  the  cuasL'(iiicncc.s  ol  present  licensinj^  methods.  Is 
not  this  the  class  whicli  esi)ecially  needs  to  l)e  awak- 
ened, informed,  and  rallied  in  support  of  a  rational 
r6i>ime?  They  constitute  the  majority — in  Anj^lo- 
Saxon  countries,  at  all  events — and  on  them  rests  the 
responsibility  of  initiative. 

The  writer  has  watched  with  sympathetic  interest  the 
growth  of  English  sentiment  in  favor  of  rational  temper- 
ance reform.  It  has  afforded  him  unbounded  pleasure 
to  note  the  formation  of  the  "Public-house  Reform 
Association."  Under  the  able  leadeiship  which  the 
movement  already  commands,  more  comprehensive 
action  than  has  hitherto  characterized  English  policy 
should  take  place.  The  present  volume  has  been  pre- 
pared with  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  association  in  its 
campaign  of  education.  I  esteem  it  a  privilege  to  help, 
however  humbly,  in  this  good  work,  and  I  wish  to 
acknowledge  my  obligation  to  that  indefatigable 
worker,  the  Lord  Bishop  ofChester,  for  the  opportunity. 
I  have  also  hoped  by  this  volume,  issued,  with  some 
verbal  changes,  in  the  United  States,  to  further  like 
work  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  which  Massachusetts, 
under  the  leadership  c  '  public-spirited  temperance 
reformers,  is  initiating. 

Over  two  years  ago  the  United  States  Department 
of  Labor  sent  me  to  Sweden  and  Norway,  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  and  reporting  upon  the  methods 
of  controlling  the  liquor  traffic  adopted  by  those 
countries.  I  went  there  absolutely  without  prejudice 
of  any  sort ;  I  came  away  a  convert  to  the  system.  The 
testimony  of  facts  and  the  object-lessons  afforded  on 
every  hand  are  conclusive  enough  to  make  one  feel 
that  the  Scandinavian  method,  as  part  of  a  local- 
option    system,    is    the   only  really   practical    means 


8 


INTRODUCTION. 


of  dealinj;  with  the  liquor  evil  in  this  generation. 
This  opinion  is  fortified  by  knowledg:e  and  observation 
of  other  systems,  gained  from  nearly  five  years'  exper- 
ience as  an  investigator  of  social  problems  in  Great 
Britain  and  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  It  is  far  in 
advance,  too,  of  any  method  which  has  been  tried  in 
populous  centres  of  the  United  States.  I  do  not 
regard  the  Scandinavian  plan  as  perfect,  but  I  do 
believe  it  to  contain  the  "  promise  and  the  potency  " 
of  higher  things.  It  is  a  measure  of  progressive 
reform,  sound  in  principle,  operating  harmoniously 
with  well-defined  laws  of  social  advance,  and  is  easily 
adaptable  to  English  and  American  conditions.  Its 
trial  will  do  more  than  anything  else  yet  suggested  to 
mitigate  an  intolerable  social  curse. 


POPULAR  CONTROL  OI'  THE 
LIOUOR    rRAFMC. 


CHAPTER  I. 

I.EGAL    BASIS   OF   THE   SCANDINAVIAN    SYSTEM. 

In  Norway  the  right  to  distil  is  granted  to  citizens 
living  in  towns,  and  to  owners  and  occupiers  of  land 
in  the  country  upon  which  taxes  are  paid.   In  Sweden 
the  payment  of  a  tax  on  ground  owned  or  leased  con- 
fers  this    privilege.     There   are   exceptions   in    both 
countries,  which,  generally  speaking,  cover  the  judi- 
ciary,  clergy,   municipal,   military,  police    and    fiscal 
officers.     None  of  these  may  engage  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  spirits.     Distilling  apparatus  in  Norway  must 
have  a  minimum  capacity  of  twenty-five  gallons;  no 
kindred   restriction   prevails   in   the  sister  kingdom. 
Distilling  in  both  countries  is  conducted  underlicenses 
granted  by  the  provincial  governors,  who  are  appointees 
of  the  crown.     It  may  be  carried  on  in  Norway  during 
^nine  and  a  half  months,  and  in  Sweden  during  eight 
°  months  of  the  year.     A  tax  is  levied  in  Norway  every 
time  any  distilling  is  done,  counting  fifteen  days  as  a 
minimum  time  of  operation,  and  5065  gallons  as  the 
assessed    production.     This    provision    is    aimed    at 
domestic  distilling,  and  is  designed  to  concentrate  the 
business  in  a  few  hands.     In  Sweden  the  minimum 
production  for  the  total  period  of  eight  months  is  fixed 


10 


xIE  LIOUOR  TRAFFIC. 


at  2113  gallons.  Th  ordinary  revenue  tax  is  50  cents 
per  gallon,  but  a  supplemental  excise  of  10  cents  a 
gallon  is  assessed  whenever  the  daily  product  is  less 
than  132  gallons  or  exceeds  1320  gallons.  The  gen- 
eral object  of  these  regulations  is  to  make  distilling  an 
industry  instead  of  a  domestic  pursuit,  as  it  formerly 
was.  Their  effect  has  been  to  notably  diminish  the 
number  of  manufactories.  In  Norway  only  twenty-one 
distilleries  are  in  operation  at  the  present  time.  The 
minimum  quantity  which  distillers  may  sell  at  one 
time  is  now  fixed  at  66  gallons  in  both  Norwegian  and 
Swedish  law. 

A  sharp  distinction  is  drawn  in  both  countries  be- 
tween the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors  and  of  wine  and 
malt  beverages.  Historically  there  is  a  reason  for 
this.  When  temperance  agitation  first  began,  effort 
was  directed  solely  against  the  ?buse  of  spirits,  and  it 
was  considered  distinctly  a  temperance  measureto  advo- 
cate wine  and  beer  as  substitutes.  Naturally,  since 
public  agitation  concerned  itself  so  much  with  the  one, 
the  law  has  been  uniquely  occupied  therewith.  Now, 
however,  the  encouragement  of  wine  and  beer  drinking 
is  iir-  part  of  the  temperance  propaganda,  and  the 
ettorts  of  teetotalers  and  moderates  alike  are  being 
directed  to  secure  an  effective  control  of  the  sale  of 
fermented  beverages  as  well. 

By  "  retail  and  bar  trade"  is  meant  traffic  in  native 
spirits*  in  quantities  less  than  66  gallons  at  one  time. 


*  The  native  spirit  of  the  Scandinavians  is  commonly  called 
"braendvin,"  generally  translated  into  English  as  "brandy." 
When,  therefore,  in  the  succeeding  pages  the  occasion  arises 
to  use  this  word,  it  must  be  understood  as  referring  to  a  liquor 
distilled  from.potatoes  or  corn,  and  containing  from  40  to  50 
per  cent,  of  alcohol. 


Till-:  SCAXniXAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


II 


The  alcoholic  conieiit  ranges  from  40  to  50  per  cent. 
In  Norway  the  minimum  for  retail  sales  is  placed  at 
.35  of  a  quart,  while  in  Sweden  it  is  a  little  over  a  quart 
(1.056  quarts). 

The  licensing  system  is  the  underlying  principle  of 
the  liquor  laws  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  but  so  modi- 
fied that  prohibition  is  not  only  made  possible  but 
actually  encouraged  in  rural  communities.  For  the 
larger  municipalities  also  the  door  is  left  wide  open  to 
local  option,  as  no  license  may  be  granted  if  the  people 
so  express  their  will  through  their  chosen  representa- 
tives.* In  the  country  the  policy  is  to  favor  prohibi- 
tion. So  successfully  has  this  latter  been  carried  out 
that  few  licenses  are  in  operation  in  the  rural  districts 
of  either  of  the  two  countries.  In  Norway  a  country 
innkeeper  was  not  obliged  to  keep  spirits  on  hand,  and 
he  was  expressly  forbidden  to  sell  to  any  person  living 
v/ithin  a  radius  of  3!  miles  from  his  hostelry.  Proba- 
bly few  men  were  thirsty  enough  to  hitch  up  their 
horses  and  drive  seven  miles  or  more  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  a  drink.  Under  the  new  law  the  bar  trade 
in  spirits  is  interdicted  in  country  communities.  Rep- 
resentatives of  foreign  firms  are  forbidden  to  canvass 
for  orders.  As  far  as  possible,  complete  domestic 
control  is  secured. 

The  licensing  authorities  in  the  cities,  towns  and 
villages  of  both  countries  are  the  magistracy,  acting 
with  the  advice  of  the  municipal  representatives  or 
general  town  meeting,  and  with  the  hernial  assent  ot 
the  governor.  The  reason  why  the  latter  functionary 
is  made  a  party  to  the  transaction  is  that,  ex  officio,  he 

*The  Norwegian  law  of  July,  1894,  establishes  local  option 
by  direct  vote  on  the  question  of  license  m  each  coninuinity. 
(Jn  this  question  both  men  and  women  are  entitled  to  vote. 


12 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


is  the  chief  of  the  police  system  of  the  province. 
Hence,  when  consenting  to  licensing  concessions  he 
will  naturally  have  in  mind  the  facilities  offered  for 
policing  saloons,  and  knows  better,  perhaps,  than  any 
one  else  the  records  of  the  applicants. 

The  prevailing  method  of  public  control  is  the 
so-called  "  company  monopoly."  This  feature  was 
authorized  in  Sweden  in  1855,  and  in  Norway  in  187 1. 
It  has  so  largely  superseded  the  practice  of  disposal 
of  licenses  at  auction  that  in  Norway,  to-day,  fifty-one 
towns*  and  landing  places,  including  all  of  any  impor- 
tance, have  adopted  the  plan.  In  Sweden  seventy- 
eight  towns  have  granted  the  monopoly  to  brandy 
companies;  in  twelve  the  sale  by  auction,  2.  e.  granting 
individual  licenses  for  retail  and  bar  sale  of  spirits  to 
those  who  offered  to  pay  an  excise  tax  of  4  cents  a  quart 
on  the  highest  amount  of  probable  sales,  with  798^ 
gallons  as  a  minimum, is  still  adhered  to;  in  ten  there 
are  privileged  licenses  only,  /.  e.  licenses  granted 
previous  to  1855  by  royal  warrant  and  good  for  the 
lifetime  of  the  holder;  and  in  two  small  towns  prohibi- 
tion prevails.  Generally  speaking,  in  the  country  pro- 
hibition, and  in  the  towns,  the  company  system,  repre- 
sent normal  conditions.  Considering  the  enormous 
territorial  extent  of  the  two  Scandinavian  kingdoms 
and  the  preponderance  of  the  agricultural  population, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  the  majority  of  the  people 
live  under  a  regime  of  local  prohibition.  Local  option 
is  in  Sweden  and  Norway  a  concomitant  of  the  com- 
pany system. 

The  licensing  authorities  in  any  community  are 
authorized  to  grant  a  monopoly  of  the  retail  and  bar 

*"  Towns  "  here  used  to  include  cities  and  larger  centres  of 
population  as  distinguished  from  rural  communities. 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


13 


sale  of  spirituous  liquors  to  a  commercial  company 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  undertaking  them,  without 
any  other  financial  return  than  a  rate  of  interest  on 
capital  invested  of  5  per  cent,  in  Norway  and  6  per 
cent,  in  Sweden.  Strictly  speaking,  the  Norwegian 
law  does  not  fix  the  rate,  the  by-laws  of  the  companies 
prescribing  it  under  the  sanction  of  the  Home  Depart- 
ment. Five  per  cent,  has  become  the  customary 
fir  are.  All  remaining  profits  go  either  to  the  munici- 
pal treasuries  (Sweden)  or  are  applied  (Norway) 
largely  to  objects  of  public  utility,  except  15  per  cent, 
which  is  paid  into  the  local  treasury  in  lieu  of  the 
excise  tax  on  consumption,  now  abolished. 

The  fundamental  idea  in  the  minds  of  the  inaugu- 
rators  was  to  create  a  system  where  the  element  of 
private  gain  should  be  eliminated  from  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors.  They  meant  to  attack  the  evil 
directly  from  its  economic  side,  and  in  this  they  acted 
wisely.  Any  plan  to  be  effective  must  comprise  this 
feature.  Men  engage  in  the  hquor  traffic,  not  deliber- 
ately to  ruin  their  fellowkind,  but  to  make  money, 
and,  as  a  rule,  all  the  money  they  can.  Remove  the 
motive  and  a  bulwark  is  erected  against  abuse.  It  is 
true  that  there  will  be  for  a  time  an  overflow,  but  this 
represents  a  positive  demand  for  consumption,  and 
can  be  provided  for  by  the  company  monopoly  plan. 
Sounder  education,  temperance  propagandism,  hy- 
gienic ameliorations,  and  a  host  of  other  things  will  so 
diminish  the  feeding  streams  that  ultimately  the  over- 
flow may  entirely  cease. 

Shareholders  in  companies  are,  as  a  rule,  persons 
who  have  public  interests  deeply  at  heart.  Never  has 
the  stock,  as  is  sometimes  alleged,  been  held  for 
speculative  purposes.     Three-fourths  of  the  shares  of 


H 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


all  the  companies  in  Norway  are  now  owned  in  hold- 
ings of  one.  In  Sweden  the  shares  often  figure  in  the 
list  of  donations  to  public  and  philanthropic  institu- 
tions, the  original  owners  having  so  disposed  of  their 
holdings  at  death.  During  recent  years,  in  Norway, 
shares  have  sometimes  changed  hands  at  a  premium. 
Enemies  of  the  system  have  cited  this  as  evidence  that 
speculation  was  rife.  A  satisfactory  explanation  is 
easily  found  when  one  understands  that  the  posses- 
sion of  a  share  has  hitherto  given  the  holder  the  right 
to  vote  at  the  annual  distribution  of  the  profits  arising 
from  the  company's  operations.  Persons  interested  in 
particular  institutions  naturally  sought  the  privilege  of 
voting  in  order  that  due  recognition  might  be  given 
them. 

The  statement  that  shares  have  changed  hands  for 
speculative  purposes  is  positively  ridiculous.  In  Nor- 
Wi^y,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  three-fourths  are 
distributed  in  holdings  of  one.  The  capital  stock  is 
always  small,  both  absolutely  and  in  proportion  to 
business  done.  The  Christiania  company  is  capitalized 
at  $42,880,  and  the  Langesund  company  at  $160. 
They  are  respectively  the  largest  and  smallest  in  Nor- 
way. Mr.  Koren,  in  the  report  of  the  Massachusetts 
Legislative  Commission,  has  pointed  out  that  the 
largest  dividends  in  1892  were  paid  to  the  shareholders 
in  the  Christiania  company,  and  they  received  on  the 
average  $15  each.  The  proportion  declines  until  we 
reach  the  Tonsberg  company,  whose  sharetiolders 
were  remunerated  at  the  rate  of  13  cents. 

Small   as   the   share  capital   of  companies  is,  it  is 
hardly  ever  fully  called  in.     Frequently  not  more  than 
cent,  is  paid  up.     Interest  is  receiv 


■5  per 


only 


the   quota   paid   in.     Even  though   the  rate  may  be 


TlIK  SCANDINAVIAN  SVSTKM. 


15 


slightly  higher  than  current  payments  by  sound  finan- 
cial institutions,  it  amounts  to  nothing  when  we  con- 
sider what  a  mere  pittance  individuals  receive.  There 
never  was  a  more  senseless  charge  against  the  Nor- 
wegian system  than  tha*^  .vhich  intimates  that  liquor 
companies  are  run  for  the  benefit  ol  shareholders. 

But  what  guarantee  is  there  that  the  companies  will 
entertain  a  loftier  conception  of  civic  responsibilities 
than  individual  liquor-sellers  ?  Will  they  not  seek  to 
exploit  the  business /r^  bono  publico  f  In  the  first 
place,  they  are  public  corporations,  whose  by-laws 
receive  official  sanction,  and  wTio  make,  one  may  say, 
with  the  licensing  authorities  certain  definite  contracts. 
Secondly,  for  forgetfulness  of  public  weal  or  for  any 
breach  of  trust  the  governor  has  the  right  to  withdraw 
the  license  privileges  without  compensation.  Approval 
of  the  by-laws  also  being  "  only  for  the  present,"  the 
government  ma}''  at  any  time  bring  a  faithless  corpo- 
ration to  a  change  in  policy  simply  by  threatening  it 
with  extinction.  The  control  is  strict,  and  one  com- 
pany has  been  so  treated.  More  frequent  necessity 
has  not  arisen.  Thirdly,  the  licensing  periods  are 
very  short,  five  years  in  Norway  and  three  years  in 
Sweden,  except  in  the  smaller  towns,  where  one  year 
completes  the  term.  Fourthly,  the  character  of  men, 
who,  if  not  precisely  from  a  sense  of  duty,  at  least  with 
the  certainty  of  no  financial  reward,  become  interested 
in  the  liquor  traffic,  is  almost  alone  a  guarantee  that 
philanthropic  management  will  prevail. 

An  intimate  relation  exists  between  public  authori- 
ties and  the  companies.  In  the  first  place,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  the  by-laws  are  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  magistracy,  municipal  council,  and  governor. 
Closing  the  public-houses  in  cases  of  emergency  legally 


i6 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


r! 


takes  place  upon  the  order  of  the  governor.  The 
sanction  of  public  authority  is  given  to  the  price-lists. 
A  reduction  in  the  number  of  licenses  may  be  effected 
arbitrarily  at  the  end  of  any  licensing  period  by  popu- 
lar vote.  In  Norway  the  appointment  of  bartenders 
and  other  officers  is  subject  to  confirmation  by  the 
magistrac}'^  and  municipal  council. 

In  this  close  alliance  there  reside  a  benefit  and  a 
danger.  Every  effort  made  to  enjoin  upon  the  com- 
panies a  proper  consideration  of  public  interest  and 
convenience  represents  the  former  ;  but  from  the  civic 
standpoint,  the  intimate  intervention  of  the  local  gov- 
ernment, especially  in  communities  where  standards  of 
political  morality  are  not  as  high  as  they  are  in  ihe 
Scandinavian  peninsula,  may  lead  to  serious  inconve- 
nience, and  even  danger.  From  these  theoretical 
considerations  in  the  present  instance  a  final  appeal 
must  be  made  to  the  economic,  social,  and  moral 
experiences  resulting  from  the  operation  of  the  system. 
Their  consideration  will  assuredly  convince  an  impar- 
tial person  that  the  practical  benefits  have  far  out- 
weighed the  possible  drawbacks.  Indeed,  very  few  of 
the  latter  have  ever  been  realized. 

Regulations  for  policing  public-houses  and  retail 
shops  respond,  on  the  whole,  to  leading  requirements. 
Sales  are  forbidden  to  minors — that  is,  to  persons  less 
than  fifteen  years  of  age.  The  companies  have  volun- 
tarily and  universally  raised  the  limit  to  eighteen. 
Retail  shops  are  closed  on  Sundays  and  holidays  in 
both  countries.  Saloons  in  Norway  are  shut  from 
I  p.  m.  on  Saturday  until  8  a.  m.  on  Monday,  and 
for  these  same  hours  on  days  preceding  and  succeed- 
ing holidays.  On  other  we.ekdayj?  they  are  open 
from  8  a.  m.  to  7.30  p.  m.,  as  a  rule.     In  some  of  the 


n 

I  ; 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SVSTEM. 


17 


towns  they  close  in  tlie  middle  of  the  day  for  an  hour 
and  a  half,  the  idea  being  to  withdraw  from  the  work- 
inginan  the  temptation  to  drink  while  goinji^  from  his 
work  to  his  home  for  the  midday  meal.  In  the  even- 
ing- the  hour  for  closing  comes  so  early  that  carousing 
is  practically  an  impossibility.  Indeed,  but  little  time 
is  left  after  the  working-day  is  over  in  which  to  secure 
drink  at  all.  In  Sweden  bars  are  open  on  Sundays  at 
mealtimes  only,  and  sales  are  restricted  to  guests 
eating.  On  weekdays  the  hours  prescribed  are  9  a.m. 
to  10  p.  m.  in  towns  and  villages,  and  till  8  p.  m.  in  the 
country.  As  regards  the  morning  hour,  the  governors 
have  authority — and  usually  exercise  it  in  the  case  of 
larger  cities — to  grant  exceptions  to  this  rule,  so  as  to 
permit  the  opening  of  the  restaurant-bars  at  an  earlier 
hour.  This,  however,  is  not  meant  to  afford  extra 
opportunity  for  drinking,  but  to  respond  to  the  needs 
of  unmarried  male  workers,  who  from  time  immemo- 
rial, in  Swedish  cities,  have  been  accustomed  to  take 
their  meals  in  public-houses.  The  practice  furnishes 
an  explanation  to  the  Swedish  law  prescribing  that 
cooked  food  shall  be  kept  on  hand  in  every  bar-trade 
place. "^  In  Norway,  national  customs  being  different, 
quite  another  policy  as  regards  food  has  been  adopted. 
No  loitering  whatever  is  permitted  in  public-houses; 
indeed,  in  the  majority  of  them  no  seats  may  be  found. 
As  soon  as  a  man  has  taken  his  drink  he  must  leave 
the  premises.  In  .both  countries  the  sale  of  brandy  to 
intoxicated  persons,  or  in  such  quantities  that  intoxica- 
tion is  likely  to  ensue,  is  illegal,  while  debts  contracted 
for  liquor  are  not  recoverable.     Business  is  carried 


"*There  are  scarcely  any  bars  in  Sweden  such  as  one  sees  in 
England  and  the  United  States.  Rather  should  we  calf  them 
"saloon-restaurants." 


I 


1 8 


THE   MOU(^K  'I"KArFlC. 


on  strictly  for  cash  at  all  i)l.Aces  of  sale  'oelonginj^  to 
the  companies. 

Early-closing  is  fraught  with  important  and  benefi- 
cent consequences.  The  saloon  is  the  one  social 
institution  with  which  avast  majority  of  our  city  popu- 
lations is  intimately  acquainted.  To  its  hospitable 
counter  the  workingman  repairs  on  pay-day  to  treat 
his  foreman  and  his  comrades.  Before  leaving,  a 
fourth  part  of  his  weekly  wages  has  disappeared. 
Enough  is  saved  to  pay  the  rent ;  the  family  must  get 
along  somehow  with  the  rest.  An  evening's  convi- 
viality has  to  offset  restricted  nourishment,  reduced 
vitahty,  loss  of  social  opportunities  to  the  children, 
and  an  ever-widening  domestic  breach.  The  Norwe- 
gian practice  of  opening  sa'oons  at  eightin  the  morn- 
ing on  weekdays,  and  closing  them  at  half  past  seven 
— excej-tt  Saturdays,  when  they  are  shut  up  at  one — is 
entirely  commendable.  The  temptation  to  carouse  is 
almost  obliterated,  for  the  time  and  opportunity  are 
lacking.  But  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  insist  on 
such  early  closing  where  ordinary  licensing  prevails. 
When  financial  gain  plays  no  part  it  matters  not  how 
short  is  the  period  of  sale ;  but  certainly  it  is  not  just 
to  charge  the  saloonkeeper  under  the  private  profit 
system  a  good  round  sum  for  his  privilege  and  then 
forbid  him  to  ply  his  trade  when  he  has  the  best 
opportunities  for  making  money. 

The  Scandinavian  method  offers  other  important 
advantages  for  the  reformation  of  what  one  may  call 
the  "saloon  habit "  of  workingpeople.  Drinking  is  not 
the  only — nor,  indeed,  the  principal — motive.  The 
craving  for  recreation,  amusement,  and  human  inter- 
course brings  them  to  the  saloon.  The  Gothenburg 
company  rendered  an  important  service  when  it  can- 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


'9 


didly  recognized  the  need  of  popular  social  centres. 
A  part  of  its  profits  are  annually  spent  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  five  reading,  writing,  and  club-rooms.  Light 
refreshments  are  served,  hut  ministry  to  the  gregari- 
ous instincts  is  the  raison  d'Hre.  The  attendance 
record  of  217,207  visits  in  1892  is  a  fair  measure  of 
appreciation. 

Not  satisfied  with  this,  the  company  has  established 
an  intermediate  agency  fc  inducing  workingmen  to 
break  away  from  saloons.  It  has  opened  four  restaur- 
ants, where  bountiful  portions  of  food  are  provided  at 
cost  price.  Cooking  is  made  an  art,  and  the  service 
all  that  can  be  wished.  Only  a  single  glass  of  liquor 
is  allowed  (on  paying  for  it,  of  course)  at  meals ;  but 
so  superior  have  become  the  attractions  of  good  food 
that  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  customers  now 
think  of  demanding  it.  About  $1000  annual  loss 
results  from  running  the  eating-houses,  but  the  policy 
indicated  furnishes  the  strongest  possible  evidence 
that  the  company  has  not  forgotten  its  philanthropic 
aims. 

As  regards  wine  and  beer,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
say  that  few  restrictions  are  enjoined  upon  their  sale. 
Licenses  are  granted  for  the  bar-trade  upon  payment 
of  an  exceedingly  small  sum.  It  has  been  calculated 
that,  for  most  Norwegian  towns,  the  profits  derived 
from  the  sale  of  four  bottles  daily  would  amply  indem- 
nify the  holder  for  the  cost  of  his  license.  Any  mer- 
chant may  dispose  of  beer  in  bottles.  Those  who 
possess  brandy  licenses  have  ipso  facto  the  right  to 
dispense  fermented  beverages.  There  is  no  excise  tax 
on  either  beer  or  malt.  One  cannot  wonder,  there- 
fore, that  with  the  spirit  trade  so  heavily  handicapped, 
and  so  large  a  measure  of  freedom  accorded  to  fer- 


20 


IMK    F  loroK  TRAI'I'IC. 


nientecl  beveraj^cs,  tlie  consumpiion  of  the  latter  sliould 
have  <;reatly  increased  ;  still,  the  ratio  of  advance  is 
much  smaller  than  in  many  other  countries — the 
United  States,  for  example. 

To  persons  unacquainted  with  liie  liquor  trade  it 
appears  remarkable  that  tlie  capital  stock  of  tliese 
brandy  monopolizing  companies  sliould  be  so  small. 
Were  the  facts  better  known,  surprise  would  not  be 
felt,  even  though  the  annual  balance  shoukl  frequently 
represent  several  times  the  amount  of  the  capital 
actually  invested.  This  is  a  general  condition  which 
happens  to  be  particularly  well  illustrated  in  the  case 
of  Norway  and  Sweden,  as  the  following  statement 
will  show : — 


Locality.             Ciipital  Stock. 

(JrojsUcceipts 

Net  Profits. 

Christiania $42,880 

Ber<'en 21  440 

$346,235 
197,280 
2(58, 5;!0 
643,095 
860,835 

$74,005 
43,835 
112,2(50 
413,495 
380,990 

Gothenburg 27,470 

Stockholm 43,202 

Norway  (as  a  whole)      164,210 

The  figui'es  in  the  columit  headed  "  net  profits"  in 
the  above  table  exclude  the  excise  paid  annually  to 
the  municipality  for  the  license  monopoly.  In  the 
present  instance,  one  might  with  perfect  propriety 
include  these  sums.  If  one  does  so,  taking  Norway 
as  an  example,  the  credit  balance  would  be  swelled  by 
$105,955  or  to  the  total  of  $486,945  instead  of  $380,990. 

Reference  to  the  table  also  shows  that  the  ratio 
between  sales  and  profits  is  by  no  means  the  same  in 
the  four  Scandinavian  cities.  The  net  surplus  is  about 
64  per  cent,  of  the  receipts  in  Stockholm  and  42  per 
cent,  in  Gothenburg,  while  it  represents  21  per  cent. 


Till':  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


21 


in  Christii. iia  and  22  per  cent,  in  Bergen.  There  are 
several  reasons  for  this,  but  the  principal  one  is  that 
the  consumption  per  h»^ad  of  population  is  greater — 
indeed,  more  than  double — in  the  Swedish  than  in  the 
Norwegian  towns.  As  between  Stockholm  and  Cioth- 
enburg  a  readjustment  of  accounts  this  particular  year 
explains  tlie  disparity.  The  different  methods  of 
sub-licensing  also  exert  an  influence.  In  Norway  the 
companies  reserve  the  monopoly  of  sale  of  higher- 
grade  spirits,  cordials,  etc.,  whereas  in  Sweden  this 
trade  is  largely  conceded  to  regular  wine  merchants, 
restaurant  and  hotelkeepers.  Interest-charges  on 
large  stocks,  shrinkage  and  breakage,  absorb  consid- 
erable sums.  Again,  the  Norwegian  hotelkeeper  has 
no  motive  to  push  the  sale  of  high-grade  spirits,  since 
all  pecuniary  advantages  belong  to  the  companies. 

When  Stockholm,  profiting  by  the  example  of 
Gothenburg  in  giving  a  company  the  control  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  proposed  to  buy  out  and  pension  off  all 
the  publicans  and  retail  dealers  in  spirits,  in  order  to 
secure  a  complete  monopoly  of  the  business,  the  pro- 
ject met  with  oppi  jition  on  the  ground  that  to  under- 
take such  a  financial  risk  would  not  only  be  absurd, 
but  would  bankrupt  all  who  were  hardy  enough  to 
invest  their  funds  in  the  enterprise.  The  city  perse- 
vered, however,  and  after  one  or  two  unsuccessful 
attempts,  finally  succeeded  in  arranging  with  every 
holder  of  a  license  for  the  surrender  of  his  privilege  in 
return  for  a  life  pension,  varying,  of  course,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  value  of  his  business.  It  was  found  at  the 
expiration  of  the  first  year's  operation  that,  after  setting 
aside  a  fair  amount  for  reserve  and  paying  a  dividend  of 
6  per  cent,  to  shareholders,  besides,  of  course,  meeting 
all  necessary  expenses,  a  sufficient  sum   remained  in 


f 


22 


TIIK   [JOUOR  TRAIFIC. 


the  treasury  to  liquidate  the  pensions  of  all  the 
ex-salocnkeepcrs  of  Stockholm  for  two  and  a  half  years 
to  come. 

The  by-laws  of  the  various  companies  are,  as  has 
already  been  noted,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
magistracy,  the  municipal  council,  and  the  governor. 
Their  contents  deal  mainly  with  the  amount  of  capital 
stock  and  method  ot  payment  for  shares,  the  qualifica- 
tions and  duties  of  shareholders  and  directors,  the 
obligations  of  employees,  and  rules  of  internal  admin- 
istration. In  Sweden,  surviving  shareholders  are 
usually  given  an  option  on  the  purchase  of  shares 
otfered  for  sale.  The  design  is  to  secure  a  perpetua- 
tion of  management  along  good  lines. 

The  contracts  made  with  such  employees  of  the 
companies  as  managers  of  bars,  retail  shops  and  eat- 
ing houses,  show  how  much  the  public  interest  is  con- 
sidered. It  is  specifically  stipulated  that  all  sales 
shall  be  on  corporation  account,  the  employees  deriv- 
ing absolutely  no  benefit  therefrom.  The  original 
practice  was  different,  and  the  present  one  was  inaug- 
urated as  the  result  of  experience.  At  Gothenburg, 
a  certain  kind  of  maudlin  sympathy  dictated  the 
employment  of  ex  bartenders  and  saloonkeepers 
as  servants  of  the  company.  Their  salaries  were  pro- 
vided for,  in  part,  by  a  certain  percentage  on  sales. 
The  experiment  resulted  in  abject  failure,  as  might 
have  been  foreseen.  The  keystone  of  the  new  r6gime 
was  discouragement  of  drinking ;  and  it  should  have 
been  recognized  as  absurd  to  expect  men  of  this  class  to 
ignore  both  the  influences  of  habit  and  the  stimulus  of 
self-interest.  Here  is  the  groundwork  of  the  charge 
first  formulated  against  the  Gothenburg  company — of 
disregarding   the  .public   interest,  and   of  permitting 


THE  hCAM)INA\  IAN  SVSTKM. 


23 


pretended  philanthropy  to  de^tjenerate  into  positive 
aggrandisement.  No  conij)any  since,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  has  ever  attempted  to  pay  its  employees  in  any 
other  fashion  than  a  stipuhited  sahiry.  The  conjpen- 
sation  is  liberal,  conforming  closely  to  prevailinj^'^  busi- 
ness stipends,  and  the  companies  have  no  difficulty  in 
securing;  efficient  help. 

In  Sweden  where  manaj^ers  are  compelled  to  keep 
well-cooked  food,  non-spirituous  beverages,  and  cij»ars 
always  on  hand,  the  profits  from  these  sales  form  a 
substantial  jierquisite.  They  employ  their  own  assist- 
ants, subject  to  the  approval  of  the  company.  The 
latter  allows  fixed  indemnities — two  thirds  of  which 
are  paid  to  the  servant  in  cash,  while  l)oard  and  lodg- 
ing stand  for  the  other  third.  Managers  must  follow 
the  fixed  tariff  of  prices,  and  serve  liquors  in  glasses 
belonging  to  the  company.  They  are  held  personally 
responsible  for  the  observance  of  all  regulations,  and 
are  forbidden  to  sell  to  minors  under  eighteen  years  of 
age  (three  years  beyond  the  legal  limit)  and  to  intox- 
icated persons.  They  are  not  allowed  10  follow  any 
other  occupation  whatever  during  their  period  of 
service.  Honesty,  fidelity  and  efficiency  are  the  con- 
ditions of  continued  employment,  as  their  supposed 
possession  furnishes  the  sole  motive  for  original 
appointment. 

A  perfect  method  of  control  and  account  prevents 
either  the  giving  away  or  fraudulent  disposal  of  liquors 
by  managers  or  any  of  the  company's  assistants. 
Civil  service  rules  are  applied  in  promotions,  the  chief 
requirement  being  length  of  service  combined  with 
good  conduct.  In  cases  where  several  individuals  pre- 
sented equal  merits  on  this  point,  the  preference  would 
be  given  io  the  employee  whose  record  of  sales  v^as 
the  lowest. 


51 


24 


THE  LIQUOR  TKAK I'lC. 


Besides  the  nian<igers,  each  company  has  inspectors, 
who  [TO  around  and  see  that  the  quahty  of  the  hquor 
offered  for  sale  is  g'ood,  exaniijie  the  control  books, 
and  see  that  rules  and  regulations  are  being  properly 
observed. 

In  addition  to  their  salary,  managers  are  allowed 
the  profits  resulting  from  the  sale  of  mineral  waters, 
beer,  and  cigars,  which  sale  they  conduct  on  their 
own  account.  But  in  Norway,  (and  s  nee  October  i, 
1893,  ''1  Gothenburg  itself,)  recent  regulations  do  not 
permit  employees  to  receive  profits  from  the  sale  of 
beer.  Practically,  the  only  other  difference  between 
the  contracts  made  with  company  officials  in  Sweden 
and  Norway  is,  that  in  the  latter  country  the  obliga- 
tion to  provide  cooked  food  is  not  incurred.  The 
motive  is  quite  clear.  The  habit  of  the  Norwegian 
workingman  is  not  to  take  his  meals  in  drinking  places, 
whereas  in  Sweden  the  contrary  custom  prevails. 

An  habitual  drunkard,  in  Norway,  finds  it  increas- 
ingly difficult  to  debauch  himself.  Many  companies 
furnish  their  bartenders  with  the  names  of  persons 
who  are  sure  to  "  get  on  a  spree  "  every  time  they 
commence  to  drink.  People  so  blacklisted  are  generally 
refused.  The  law  fully  justifies  the  conduct  of  the 
company  in  requiring  that  liquor  shall  not  be  sold  to 
persons  already  intoxicated,  or  in  such  quantities  that 
intoxication  is  likely  to  ensue.  The  smallest  glass  fires 
tlie  appetite  of  the  habitual  drunkard  into  perfect 
uncontrollability. 

No  loitering  is  allowed  in  Norwegian  bars.  A  cus- 
tomer, after  drinking,  must  leave  the  premises  forth- 
with. 

Up  to  the  present  reference  has  only  been  made  to 
thf  places  of  bar  and  retail  sale  conducted  by  the  co  li- 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


25 


pany  on  its  own  account.  Hotels,  restaurants,  and 
clubs  have  not  been  considered.  In  this  matter  a 
radical  difTerence  prevails  in  the  practices  of  the  two 
Scandinavian  kinodoms,  and,  therefore,  an  explanation 
of  each  must  be  given  separately. 

In  Norway  the  custom  is  to  make  the  proprietor  or 
lessee  of  the  hotel,  restaurant,  or  club,  for  the  time 
beincT,  an  employee  of  the  company.  I  le  is  conceded 
the  privilege  of  selling  spirituous  liquors,  both  native 
and  imported,  but  he  may  not  derive  any  personal 
benefit  from  their  sale.  As  the  agent  of  the  company 
he  is  paid  a  salary,  but  all  profits  go  into  the  corpora- 
tion treasury.  He  likewise  puts  himself  under  a 
heavy  bond  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  obliga- 
tions. This  is  the  general  practice.  In  certain  towns, 
notably  In  Bergen,  no  privileges  of  the  kind  referred 
to  are  conceded. 

The  Swedish  practice  is  to  grant  sub-licenses  to 
owners  or  lessees  of  hotels,  restaurants,  and  bona  fide 
clubs,  whose  character  has  been  approved  by  the 
licensing  authorities,  for  the  sale  of  imported  and  high 
grade  liquors  and,  sometimes  also  "  arrac  "  punch. 
The  companies  reserve  to  themselves,  however,  the 
traffic  in  all  spirits  or  potions  compounded  therefrom 
which  contain,  at  15°  Centigrade,  more  than  23  to  25 
per  cent,  of  alcohol.  This  is  uniformly  reserved  as 
the  monopoly  of  the  company.  Neither  do  the  com- 
panies, in  sub-licensing,  transfer  the  sole  right  of  sell- 
ing the  weaker  spirits.  They  do  a  little  of  this  class 
of  business  themselves.  The  compensation  required 
of  holders  of  sub-licenses  is  -simply  the  regularly 
assessed  excise  tax  upon  probable  consumption.  It 
is  estimated  in  different  fashions.  In  Stockholm  it  is 
liberally  guessed  at,  but  in  Gothenburg  sales'  books 


26 


THE   LIOUOR  TRAKFIC, 


have  been  called  for  in  order  that  a  correct  assessment 
may  be  made. 

The  company  monopoly  presents  at  this  point  cer- 
tain advantages  which  we  should  do  well  to  consider. 
By  this  method  of  sub-licensing  it  is  possible  to  sup- 
press gambling  and  immorality,  which  so  frequently 
flourish  in  connection  with  saloons.  The  contracts 
are  made  annually  with  the  sub-licensees,  and,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  the  friendly  relations  between  the 
companies  and  the  public  authorities  make  it  easier  to 
interpose  special  stipulations  to  prevent  any  ulterior 
abuse.  As  a  fact,  the  companies  uniformly  do  this 
whenever  requested  by  the  police.  They  sometimes 
go  so  far  as  to  withhold  the  privilege  from  an  indi- 
vidual who  has  wilfully  or  obstinately  transgressed 
the  bounds  of  propriety  in  the  past. 

An  interesting  case  came  under  my  own  observation 
while  in  Stockholm.  The  lessee  of  a  large  amuse- 
ment cafe  had,  in  contravention  of  his  contract  with 
the  company  and  in  opposition  to  the  expressed  wishes 
of  the  police  department,  conducted  the  sale  of  liquor 
in  certain  quarters  of  his  premises  devoted  to  amuse- 
ments. Paying  no  heed  to  official  remonstrances,  he 
was  brought  to  his  senses  at  the  end  of  the  year  by 
the  company  refusing  him  a  sub-license  unless  he 
conformed  in  every  respect  to  the  requirements  of  the 
police  department.  His  justitication  for  the  trans- 
gression was  that  the  sum  he  was  compelled  to  pay 
was  already  so  high  that  he  could  not  recoup  himself 
unless  he  offered  some  special  attractions  with  the  sale 
of  drinks.  In  the  new  contract  he  was  obliged  to 
accept  all  the  conditions  imposed,  and,  as  a  kind  of 
semi-official  penalty,  to  pay  the  large  amount  previ- 
ously required. 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


27 


It  should  be  remarked  that  the  semi-public  relations 
of  these  brandy  companies  are  such  that  it  is  impossible 
for  them  to  allow  any  gambling  or  immoral  features  in 
connection  with  the  sale  of  drink  in  their  own  saloons 
or  other  places.  If  they  did,  considering  their  avow- 
edly high  aim,  public  sentiment  would  be  so  aroused 
against  them  that  the  monopoly  would  be  very  speedily 
done  away  with  and  their  existence  ended.  As  regards 
other  places,  the  method  of  sub-licensing  under  such 
hard-and-fast  conditions  effectually  brings  the  third 
party  under  the  control  of  the  police  authorities  and 
systematically  checks  abuses.  To  say  positively, 
without  fear  of  controversion  in  the  smallest  detail, 
that  gambling  and  sexual  immorality  have  been  entirely 
dissociated  from  the  saloon  under  the  Scandinavian 
system,  is  to  sound  no  uncertain  note  of  praise. 

There  exists  a  sharpdistinction  between  the  methods 
of  distributing  the  profits  of  brandy  companies  in 
Sweden  and  Norway.  In  the  latter,  appropriations 
are  determined  by  a  committee,  in  which  the  share- 
holders and  the  public  are  usually  equally  represented. 
Shareholders  elect  their  substitutes,  while  the  municipal 
council  selects  the  public  representatives.  The  surplus 
remaining  after  making  provision  for  all  expenses  and 
a  5  per  cent,  dividend,  and  after  a  reserve  equal  in 
amount  to  the  capital  stock  has  been  once  created, 
was  until  1894  awarded  to  objects  of  public  utility 
which  the  municipality  was  not  by  law  already  obliged 
to  support.  Under  the  r.ew  law  20  per  cent,  is  retained 
by  the  companies  to  be  distributed  as  formerly,  but 
especially  for  the  promotion"  of  temperance;  15  per 
cent,  is  paid  into  the  municipal  treasury  as  indemnity 
for  the  abolished  excise  on  probable  consumption  in 
lieu  of  license  fees,  and  65  per  cent,  goes  to  the  general 


28 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


government  to  constitute  a  special  fund  for  old  age 
pensions  or  other  forms  of  labor  insurance.  An 
analysis  of  the  profits  distributed  during  the  decade 
from  1880  to  1890  shows  that  the  average  annual 
amount  was  equal  to  about  $320,000.  19  per  cent, 
of  this  was  given  to  various  educational  objects, 
7  per  cent,  was  awarded  to  public  institutions,  62  per 
cent,  went  for  the  creation  or  improvement  of  parks 
and  highways,  and  ly^^  per  cent,  was  bestowed  in  the 
form  of  subsidies  upon  various  teetotal  organizations 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  them  in  their  propaganda. 

The  Norwegian  method  is  salutary  from  a  triple 
point  of  view.  No  part  of  the  surplus  can  be  applied  to 
lessen  the  general  tax- rate,  the  old  excise  tax  on  prob- 
able consumption  having  been  applied  to  the  poor  fund. 
The  fact  that  in  Sweden  the  local  municipal  treasury 
is  the  chief  recipient  has  been  understood  by  unin- 
formed or  hostile  persons  to  indicate  that  public 
cupidity  had  simply  taken  the  place  of  private  gain  in 
the  conduct  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  charge  is  quite 
unfounded,  unless  with  the  rarest  possible  exceptions. 
Secondly,  the  sense  of  local  civic  responsibility  is 
maintained.  Thirdly,  the  philanthropic  energies  of  a 
community  are  stimulated  and  extended.  Fourthly, 
an  universally  felt  social  need,  in  European  countries  at 
least,  labor  insurance,  is  about  to  be  provided  for. 

In  Sweden  a  tripartite  system  of  distribution  pre- 
vails. The  municipality,  as  a  rule,  receives  seven- 
tenths.  Two-tenths  belong  to  the  general  government 
and  one-tenth  is  accredited  to  the  agricultural  society 
of  the  neighborhood.  Accounts  are  audited  by  per- 
sons representing  each  of  these  three  parties,  and  con- 
sequently there  is  no  loophole  for  fraud.  Stockholm 
receives  eight-tenths,  and  cities  of  the  third  rank  get 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SVSTKM. 


29 


otiiy  five-tenths  ;  tlie  country  comnumities  in  the  hitter 
case  profit in,^  from  the  rehitively  smaller  share  granted 
to  llie  urban. 

Considerations  of  equity  dictate  that  a  portion  of 
the  profits  shall  ^oto  the  country.  Since  the  company 
plan  was  inauj^urated,  licenses  have  practically  disap- 
peared in  rural  districts,  involvin<:^  necessarily  the  loss 
of  excise.  Drinking,  however,  has  not  wholly  ceased; 
for  peasants  coming  to  town  very  frequently  provide 
themselves  with  liquor,  and,  unfortunately,  often  take 
advantage  of  the  rare  opportunity  to  absorb  too  much. 
The  country  communities,  therefore,  claim  that,  having 
lost  In  two  ways  by  the  company  system,  they  are 
entitled  to  receive  a  portion  of  the  profits.  Their  plea 
has  been  admitted.  In  Sweden  farming  is  the  staple 
occupation  and  the  great  source  of  prosperity.  Avji 
cultural  societies  have  for  their  object  the  spread  of 
scientific  knowledge  in  relation  to  cultivation,  the 
introduction  of  better  breeds  of  stock,  kinds  of  cereals, 
etc.     Ilence  the  subsidy. 

The  average  annual  profits  of  all  Swedish  brandy 
companies  during  the  decade  from  1880  to  1S90  were 
about  ^1,600,000. 

The  question  of  profits  of  brandy  companies  under 
the  Scandinavian  system  has  received  a  great  deal  of 
attention.  Many  temperance  people  believe  that  they 
have  here  found  a  vulnerable  point.  Others  take  the 
high  ground  that  public  sanction,  which,  according  to 
the  Swedish  practice,  is  in  a  measure  involved,  is 
iniquitous;  and  that  financial  resources  coming  from 
the  sale  of  drink  should  be  considered  a  kind  of 
"  blood-money."  Furthermore,  they  believe  that 
distributing  profits  in  this  fashion  entails  a  certain 
relief  from   taxation,  and,  consequently,    the   system 


30 


THK  LIQUOR  TKAKFIC. 


becomes  fastened  more  surely  and  permanently  upon 
the  body  politic.  It  is  extremely  bad  morality,  they 
say,  for  taxpayers  to  receive  benefit  in  any  way  from 
the  consumption  of  drink.  Such  arq^uments  are  by  no 
means  unreasonable,  but  in  the  present  instance  they 
do  not  represent  facts.  The  annual  profit-balance  is 
so  light  in  comparison  with  the  total  national  tax,  that 
the  relief  accorded  the  contributor  is  not  much  greater 
than  the  lowering  of  the  water-line  of  a  large  reservoir 
whence  a  few  buckets  have  been  bailed.  A  careful 
investigation  upon  this  point  leads  me  to  believe  that, 
far  from  the  tax-bills  in  any  given  locality  having  been 
reduced  as  the  result  of  this  system  of  distribution,  the 
community  has  benefited  by  increased  expenditures 
upon  objects  of  public  utility  which  otherwise  might 
not  have  been  possible.  I  do  not  think  it  can  be  suc- 
cessfully demonstrated  that  the  tax-payers  have  been 
relieved  by  the  income  from  brandy  companies.  That 
the  companies  themselves  have  no  motives  to  create 
profits  is  incontestable.  Shareholders  can  receive  no 
pecuniary  advantage  beyond  that  which  a  5  per  cent, 
or  6  per  cent,  dividend  upon  the  amount  paid  up  on 
their  shares  confers.  Owing  to  the  lucrative  character 
of  the  business,  the  sum  necessary  to  pay  this  is  easy 
enough  to  gain.  The  most  that  can  be  said  is  that 
the  municipal  purse  has  been  made  more  open,  and 
public  contributions  more  generous,  because  of  the 
proceeds  received  from  the  sale  of  liquor. 

Another  purely  theoretical  objection  is  that,  under 
the  Swedish  method,  public  cupidity  simply  takes  the 
place  of  private.  The  fear  is  entertained  that,  once 
aroused,  civic  greed  may  go  farther,  and  show  itself 
more  difficult  to  restrain.  The  answer  to  this  is  evi- 
dent enough.     A  community  which  sought  to  thrive 


I 


T HE  SC A N  I") I N A V !  A N   S\  S T I', M . 


31 


on  the  misfortune  of  its  members  could  not  very  long 
exist.  The  poor-rate  and  expenses  for  criminal  and 
reformatory  establishments  would  not  be  long  in 
al)sorbing  far  more  than  the  profits  derived  from  the 
liquor  trade,  no  matter  how  much  the  consumption  of 
drink  was  encouraged.  Thus  a  practical  limit  exists 
to  the  extension  of  public  cupidity.  The  community 
if  it  does  wrong  has  to  bear  its  own  burdens ;  whereas 
under  the  private-profit  system  the  private  trader 
pockets  the  gains  and  leaves  the  evil  consequences  to 
the  community. 

From  the  ethical  point  of  view,  it  can  make  no  dif- 
ference whether  the  beverage  which  debauches  is 
served  by  a  quasi-public  corporation  or  an  individual. 
But  it  matters  considerably  in  the  economic  sense.  In 
the  one  case,  society  bears  the  burden  exclusively  ;  in 
the  other,  it  is  partially  recouped.  The  Scandinavian 
plan  was  never  designed  to  prohibit  the  consumption 
of  liquor,  or  to  eradicate  all  the  evils  to  which 
immoderate  drinking  gives  rise  ;  although  attached  to 
a  local-option  system,  it  leaves  opportunity  for  local 
prohibition  wherever  public  opinion  demands  and 
supports  it.  it  was  particularly  intended  to  check 
the  vice  of  drunkenness  by  lessening  temptation  and 
by  reducing  consumption  to  normal  requirements. 
The  public-house  is  put  under  such  heavy  bonds,  so 
to  speak,  that  it  is  more  and  more  regarded  as  a 
reformatory  institution,  and  shunned  by  self-respect- 
ing people.  The  liberty  to  drink,  if  one  wants  to,  and 
has  the  necessary  means  to  purchase  liquor,  is  fully 
conceded,  but  abuse  of  this  right  is  carefully  and  effect- 
ually restrained.  In  short,  the  methods  employed  are 
educational  rather  than  repressive.  The  end  sought 
is  the  reformation  of  popular  habits,  and  it  is  reached 


32 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


by  a  series  of  evolutionary  stages,  each  one  of  which 
finds  sanction  in  advancing  i)nl)lic  sentiment. 

Probably  no  system  for  distril)Uiino  ilie  profits  of  the 
liquor  trade  could  be  devised  .vhich  would  be  entirely 
free  from  theoretical  objections  or  practical  difificulties. 
Neither  of  the  plans  adopted  in  Sweden  and  Norway 
measures  up  to  an  ideal  standard.  F'inland  has  tried 
a  compromise  which  is  worthy  of  mention.  The 
surplus  is  given,  one-half  to  the  town  in  whicli  the 
brandy  company  is  located,  one  fourth  to  the  country 
communities  of  the  province  in  proportion  to  popula- 
tion, one-eighth  to  the  local  agricultural  societies,  and 
one-eighth  to  the  company  itself.  The  apportionment 
t )  urban  and  rural  districts,  three-fourths  of  the  entire 
sum,  must  be  distributed  amongst  local  objects  of  public 
utility,  those  aiming  at  the  promotion  of  temperance, 
public  health  and  education,  and  the  care  of  the  poor, 
having  the  first  claim.  The  part  given  to  agricultural 
societies  is  spent  to  further  the  obvious  ends  of  these 
organizations.  The  one-eighth  left  to  the  brandy  com- 
pany is  expended  in  the  promotion  of  public  welfare, 
but  it  may  not  be  given  to  any  object  or  institution 
maintained  either  wholly  or  in  part  by  municipal  taxa- 
tion. The  merits  of  the  Finnish  practice  are  apparent. 
Liquor  money  may  not  be  used  to  relieve  local  taxa- 
tion, and  the  objects  for  which  the  major  part  of  it  is 
expended  are  specified  by  statute. 

It  is  undeniable  that  a  wise  disposition  of  revenues 
derived  from  the  trade  in  spirits  presents  many  per- 
plexing difficulties.  I  have  elsewhere*  referred  to 
some  of  them  in  discussing  the  adaptation  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian  system    to  American   needs.     Standards  of 

*"  Atlantic  Monthly,"  October,  1893,  and  "The    Forum," 
March,  1894. 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SVSTICM. 


33 


civic  morality  are  lower  in  the  United  States— and  I 
believe  in  England,  too— than  in  th  ^  Scandinavian 
peninsula.  Such  safeguards  must  be  devised  that 
leakage  of  any  kind  will  be  impossible.  Disposition 
of  at  least  the  major  portion  of  profits  by  legal  enact- 
ment seems  highly  desirable,  while  the  strictest  form 
of  public  audit  is  a  necessity. 


( 


CHAPTER  II. 

RESULTS   OF   THE   SCANDINAVIAN   SYSTEM. 

There  is  but  one  satisfactory  test  of  the  efficacy  of 
any  method  of  controlling  the  liquor  traffic,  and  that 
is  the  per  capita  consumption  of  drink.  Even  such 
statistics  do  not  afford  an  entirely  accurate  judj^ment. 
For  instance,  they  cannot  show  the  abuse  of  liquor, 
since  one  is  unable  to  measure  the  particular  part 
which  has  produced  intoxication.  Every  customer  is 
by  no  means  an  inebriate.  Indeed,  in  some  countries 
such  as  Denmark,  where  the  annual  quantity  of  spirits 
drunk  per  inhabitant  is  larger  than  almost  anywhere 
else,  the  people  have  a  well-deserved  reputation  for 
sobriety.  There  the  practice  is  to  drink  chiefly  at 
mealtime.  Neithjr  can  we  consider  consumption  of 
spirits  apart  from  economic  conditions.  A  rise  or  fall 
in  general  prosperity  is  always  accompanied  by  changes 
in  drinking  habits.  Particularly  when  the  working 
classes  receive  high  or  low  wages  will  marked  fluctua- 
tions be  observed.  It  is  well  known  that  the  British 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  has  recourse  to  the 
**  spirit  barometer "  in  his  budgetory  estimates  of 
national  prosperity. 

Before  seeking  to  draw  inferences  from  the  statistics 
of  consumption  of  spirits  in  Sweden  and  Norway  one 
must  understand  on  what  basis  they  are  prepared. 
Smce  the  Government  regulates  the  manufacture,  the 
total  quantity  distilled  each  year  is  well  known.  The 
difference,  too,  between  exports  and  imports  is  easily 
established ;  but  in  calculating  the  consumption  for 
any  particular  year  allowance  has  to  be  made  for  a 


F^ 


I 


IHK  SCANDINAVIAN  SVSTKM. 


35 


considerable  quantity  stored  away  for  sonic  future 
time — a  quantity  which  ouj^ht  to  be  credited  to  the 
year  when  it  is  drunk.  Furthermore,  it  is  not  known 
jusf  how  much  alcohol  is  consumed  in  the  industrial 
arts.  The  thin<r  which  is  known  absolutely  is  the 
quantity  sold  by  the  companies. 

Theaverageannual  consumption  ofspirituous  liquors 
in  Sweden  by  five-yar  periods,  beginning  with  1856, 
has  been  as  follows  : 


1856-60  . 
1861-65  . 
1866-70  . 
1871-75  . 


Quarts  por 
Inliabltaiit. 
.      10.03 
.      11.31 
.       9.40 
.      12.47 


1876-80 
1881-85 
1886-90 


Quarts  per 
luliahitaut. 
.      10.67 
8.66 

•       7.42 


Part  of  the  period  from  1871-75  falls  in  the  golden 
age  of  wage-earners ;  work  was  then  abundant  and 
remuneration  higher  than  it  has  ever  been  before  or 
since.  There  is  nothing  incongruous,  therefore,  con- 
sidering what  has  already  been  said  on  the  influence 
of  economic  conditions,  in  the  sharp  advance  in  alco- 
holic consumption  during  these  years.  After  1876  or 
1878  the  company  system  took  firm  root  in  the 
eastern  Scandinavian  kingdom,  and  since  then  there 
has  been  a  notable  diminution  in  the  quantities  con- 
sumed. 

The  influence  of  the  company  plan  on  the  consump- 
t-'on  of  spirits  is  better  shown  in  the  table  given  below. 


1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 


Quarts  per 
Iiiliabitant. 

.  14.2 
.  .  12.9 
■    .  13.1 

.  11.2 

.  11.0 

.  9.2 

.  8.5 

.  9.4 

.  8.4 

.  7.1 


1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 


Quarts  per 
Inhabitant. 

.  .  8.5 

.  .  8.6 

.  .  8.2 

.  .  7.3 

.  .  7.0 

.  .  6.5 

.  .  7.3 

.  ,  6.7 

.  .  6.8 


36 


Till':  I.IOLOU  TKAl  ric. 


In  1874,  the  first  conii)any,  tlie  riothenl)urjr,  re- 
ceived a  monopoly  of  retail-  as  well  as  bar-trade. 
Beginninj;  with  that  year  and  closing  with  1892,  the 
latest  date  for  which  statistics  are  available,  we  see 
that  the  per  capita  consumption  declined  more  than 
one-half. 

Is  not  this  a  marvellous  showinj^?  If  not,  it  is  at 
least  an  exhibition  which  no  country  in  the  world  with 
a  different  method  of  control  can  present.  The  ques- 
tion of  absolute  CjUantity  of  spirits  drunk  per  individual 
is  not  relevant.  It  is  improvement  in  drinking  habits 
which  must  be  considered.  In  1874,  with  but  one 
leading  company  in  possession  of  a  monopoly  of  retail 
and  bar-trade  within  its  circumscription  (except  five 
privileged  licenses  which  have  not  yet  been  given), 
Sweden  occupied  the  second  place  as  regards  per 
capita  consumption  of  spirits  amongst  the  twelve  most 
civilized  countries  in  the  world.  To-day  her  place  is 
about  half-way  down  the  list.  That  this  result  has 
been  reached  against  the  formidable  hindrances  of 
national  customs  and  of  climate  affords  powerful  testi- 
mony in  favor  of  the  system.  Credit  cannot  h  '  -^i^iven 
to  Governmental  control  of  manufacture,  becjiuse  pri- 
vate distilling  was  abolished  nearly  twenty  years  earlier, 
/.  e.  in  1855.  Let  it  be  remembered,  too,  that  only 
60  per  cent,  of  the  entire  sales  of  spirits  in  Sweden 
(companies  have  no  monopoly  of  wholesale  trade)  is 
controlled  by  the  companies. 

Norway  makes  a  still  better  showing.  National 
drinking  customs  were  not  so  fixed  as  in  Sweden,  but 
the  influences  of  climate  are  the  same.  The  low  limit 
of  monopoly,  extending  only  to  \o\  gallons  at  one 
purchase,  has  been  a  very  serious  handicap.  Never- 
theless, from  1876,  when  the  companies  began  really 


•  (• 


li 


llli:  SC.WDINVWIAN   SVSTI'M. 


37 


to  take  root,  to  1892,  when  they  sold  slightly  more 
than  lialfof  all  the  spirits  dispensed,  per  capita  con- 
sumption diminished  from  7  to  3,^  quarts,  or,  as  if 
emulatitifj  the  record  of  the  sister  kingdom,  more  than 
one-half.  The  followinj^  table  ^ivcs  tlie  average  con- 
sumption per  individual,  and  the  percentage  of  com- 
panies' sales  each  year. 


Totftlcon- 

I'nr  cont.of  caloH 

1 

Total  con- 

I'er  cent,  of  salon 

Tears. 

suiiiiitlon  per 

by  <'(i!iipiinlcs  of 

Voars. 

P)im|>tl(>ii  per 

by  C()ni|iaiili'8  of 

laliuliltuut. 

toliil  suit's. 

i 

1 

Inliiibiliint. 

total  salcH. 

(juiirts. 

liuiirtH. 

1876 

7.0 

8.3 

1885 

3.7 

31.9 

1877 

C.3 

14.8 

■1886 

8.2 

41.3 

1878 

4.7 

22.3 

'1887 

3.0 

43.4 

1879 

3.4 

24.5 

1888 

3.1: 

40.1 

1880 

4.1 

21.1 

;1889 

8.4 

41.8 

1881 

3.2 

30.1 

.890 

8.8 

49.1 

1882 

4.0 

25.3 

il891 

8.8 

42.9 

1883 

8.5 

34.1 

'l892 

8.3 

51.3 

1884 

3.7 

34.2 

Concurrently  with  the  growth  of  the  company  system 
there  has  been  a  notable  diminution  in  the  per  capita 
consumption  of  spirits.  When  the  companies  made 
one-twelfth  of  all  the  sales,  the  average  individual 
drank  7  quarts,  reckoned  at  50  per  cent,  of  alcohol, 
per  annum.  When  they  did  one-half  of  the  business 
the  same  individual  consumed  but  3.^  quarts.  Is  there 
not  here,  again,  strong  ground  for  asserting  that  the 
Norwegian  method  of  control  has  caused  a  notable 
decline  in  consumption? 

The  decrease  has  not  been  steady  from  year  to  year. 
Variations  have  taken  place,  notably  between  1879  and 
1880,  between  1881  and  18S2,  and  again  in  more  recent 
years.  Almost  uniformly,  a  rise  in  per  capita  con- 
sumption has  betn  accompanied  by  a  relative  decrease 
of  business  done  during  that  year  by  the  companies. 


1^ 


38 


THE  LIOUOR  TRAFFIC. 


Whatever  was  the  cause,  the  advance,  therefore,  could 
not  have  been  due  to  any  laxity  on  their  part  or  to 
any  greater  drinking  by  their  patrons.  Let  us  note 
that  in  1880  the  companies  sold  but  21. i  per  cent,  of 
the  total  quantity,  whereas  in  1879  they  dispensed 
24.5  per  cent.  In  the  meantime  consumption  advanced 
from  3.4  to  4.1  quarts  per  inhabitant.  Again,  in  1881 
they  monopolized  30.1  per  cent,  of  the  total  trade. 
'Wi^  per  capita  consumption  was  then  3.2  quarts;  but 
in  1882,  when  the  business  declined  to  25.3  per  cent., 
consumption  rose  to  four  quarts.  In  1887,  when  per 
capita  consumption  was  the  lowest,  the  companies* 
proportion  of  total  sales  reached  almost  the  highest 
point  it  has  yet  attained.  With  that  proportion  abso- 
lutely the  highest,  as  in  1892,  individual  consumption 
is  infinitesimally  near  low-water  mark.  To-day  spirit- 
drinking  in  relation  to  population  is  less  current  in 
Norway  than  in  almost  any  other  civilized  country. 

Divorcing  money-making  from  the  saloon  and 
retail  spirit  business — in  other  words,  the  Scandi- 
navian company  plan — furnishes  incontestably  the 
reason  why  nations  like  Sweden  and  Norway,  even 
though  heavily  handicapped  by  climate  and  hard- 
drinking  customs,  are  nevertheless  able  to  show  a 
remarkable  decrease  in  consumption,  while  other 
countries  which  allow  private  profits  to  be  made  are 
being  slowly  submerged  by  the  alcoholic  tide.  Mr. 
John  Graham  Brooks,  one  of  the  Massachusetts  Legis- 
lative Commission,  has  strikingly  illustrated  this  fact 
in  a  diagram  which  will  repay  careful  study.  The 
figures  cover  practically  the  same  period,  except  in 
the  case  of  Austria,  so  that  prevailing  economic  con- 
ditions— that  powerful  disturbing  factor — may  be 
adjudged  fairly  similar. 


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40 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


,1  ' 


Are  these  coincidences  purely  accidental  ?     He  would 
be  a  bold  man  who  would  answer  affirmatively. 

Prohibitionist  exponents  of  temperance  have  some- 
times been  misled  into  asserting  that  improved  con- 
ditions in  Norway  and  Sweden  are  most  largely  to  be 
credited  to  the  growth  of  total  abstinence.  The  teeto- 
tallers are  reliably  estimated  to  number  about  300,000 
to  350,000  in  the  two  countries.  They  constitute 
about  4  to  5  per  cent,  of  the  total  population.  If  the 
marvellous  decrease  in  consumption  is  due  to  them, 
there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  they  must  have  been 
very  hard  drinkers  previous  to  conversion.  A  suppo- 
sition of  this  sort  only  serves  to  show  the  absurdity  of 
the  plea,  especially  when  coupled  with  the  fact  that 
half  of  their  number  are  women  and  children. 

Total  abstinence  societies  are  growing  in  member- 
ship and  are  exercising  a  certain  amount  of  influence. 
That  they  are  not  more  powerful  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  few  -amongst  the  really  influential  members  of 
society  are  adherents. 

If  decreased  per  capita  consumption  were  due  to 
the  efforts  of  total  abstainers,  the  results  ought  to  be 
most  evident  during  later  times,  because  it  is  in  recent 
years  that  they  have  grown  in  number  and  prestige. 
We  have,  on  the  contrary,  a  slight  increase  of  liquor- 
drinking  since  1887.  It  is  so  small  as  not  to  be  worth 
noticing  except  to  dispose  of  the  claim  before  us.  The 
phenomenon  is  undoubtedly  due  to  improved  econ- 
omic conditions,  as  the  statistics  of  small  deposits  in 
savings  banks  show  that  the  masses  of  the  people  are 
in  a  better  position  to  indulge  themselves  now  than 
formerly.  The  company  system,  in  encouraging  local 
option,  in  reducing  temptation,  in  stamping  drinking 
as  a  dangerous  practice,  and  in  struggling  valiantly  to 


I' 


i 


\i 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


41 


reduce  consumption  to  the  lowest  limits,  ought  rather 
to  be  considered  as  a  factor  in  the  extension  of  total 
abstinence.  This  is  more  just  than  to  give  an  undue 
measure  of  credit  for  the  good  results  accomplished  to 
the  propaganda  and  practice  of  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  extreme  temperance  reformers.  One  might 
quite  as  consistently  argue  that  teetotal  societies  have 
accomplished  nothing  in  the  United  States  because 
liquor-drinking  has  advanced  contemporaneously  with 
their  increase  in  membership  and  activity.  Let  us 
cheerfully  accord  to  this  body  in  Scandinavia  a  due 
meed  of  praise,  especially  where,  as  in  some  notable 
instances,  they  have  worked  harmoniously  with  officials 
of  the  local  companies  to  reduce  drinking;  but  let 
us  not  credit  them  with  feats  they  have  not  accom- 
plished, and  in  the  very  nature  of  things  could  not 
accomplish. 

If  it  is  teetotalism  which  is  chiefly  reducing  the  con- 
sumption of  spirits,  why  is  it  that  the  same  effect  is  not 
seen  in  connection  with  beer?  Drinking  malt  bever- 
ages in  Sweden  and  Norway  has  increased,  notwith- 
standing that  they  are  relatively  dearer  than  spirits. 
An  historical  background,  now  happily  passing, 
reveals  a  mistaken  sentiment  which  urged  beer-drink- 
ing as  a  temperance  measure.  The  consequence  is 
that  beer,  with  some  exceptions  in  Norway,  is  not  yet 
included  in  the  companies'  monopoly,  its  sale  is  envir- 
oned with  no  restrictions  worthy  of  mention,  and  it 
has  become  the  responsible  factor  in  preventing  a 
large  decrease  in  drunkenness. 

Economic  conditions  have  not  brought  about 
decreased  per  capita  consumption.  They  play  a  part 
in  yearly  fluctuations,  but,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
savings  bank  returns   show  that   people   could   now 


I 


i 


42 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


l!  ' 


drink  more  than  formerly  if  they  would.  The  growth 
of  beer-drinking,  a  much  more  expensive  habit  in 
Scandinavia,  argues  towards  the  same  conclusion. 

To  the  company  system  belongs  the  almost  exclu- 
sive credit  for  reduced  per  capita  consumption.  Elimi- 
nation of  money-making,  decrease  in  places  of  sale, 
and  almost  every  reasonable  method  of  regulation  that 
could  be  adopted,  speak  for  themselves.  Many  lead- 
ing firms  of  distillers  and  rectifiers  of  spirits  in  Sweden 
"  openly  state  that  there  has  been  a  constant  and 
marked  falling  off  of  consumption  of  domestic  spirits, 
unaccompanied  by  a  corresponding  increase  of  impor- 
tations, and  attribute  it  exclusively  to  the  wide  adop- 
tion of  the  company  system."  Foreign  diplomatic 
and  consular  representatives  and  local  police  and 
administrative  officers  testify  with  practical  unanimity, 
and  from  a  neutral  standpoint,  to  the  all-prevailing 
influence  of  the  company  plan  for  good.  Religious 
sentiment,  growth  of  education,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  abstinence,  fill  a  place  which  in  another  gener- 
ation will  be  larger  still.  The  company  system  Las 
cleared  the  ground  and  prepared  the  soil  for  them  to 
take  firmer  root. 

Most  methods  of  controlling  the  liquor  traffic  yet 
devised  break  down  when  applied  to  large  cities.  Will 
the  Scandinavian  plan  stand  this  supreme  test  ?  Let 
us  see.  Below  are  the  statistics  of  sales  by  the  Goth- 
enburg company  from  1874  to  1892  : 


M 


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o 

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cq 

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a: 

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5    ja 


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Cl  JO  CJ  S'l  C-1  CI  (M  1— I  !— I  r-l  r-1 


OC  OJ  t  -  C  O:  CO  CO 

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44 


THE  IJOUOR  TRAFFIC. 


Durine?  the  period,  the  total  sales  of  spirits  declined 
more  than  one-half — 29  quarts  per  inhabitant,  to  14.3. 
There  is  a  salutary  diminution  in  all  branches  of  the 
trade — bar,  retail,  and  higher-grade  spirits.  Drinking 
in  public-houses  shows  the  lar^^est  relative  decrease. 

It  has  been  objected  that  these  figures  do  not  give 
the  total  actual  consumption  of  spirits  in  Gothenburg. 
That  is  true.  There  are  five  privileged  license-hold- 
ers in  the  city,  and  statistical  returns  for  them  are 
needed.  Mr.  Koren,  who  was  recently  in  Sweden  in 
the  interest  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislative  Commis- 
sion, has  prepared  a  table  which  is  here  incorporated 
with  a  few  remarks. 

"As  the  table  given  below,"  says  he,  "differs  some- 
what from  those  given  in  other  publications,  it  is  well 
to  state  how  it  has  been  made  up.  In  order  to  present 
as  accurate  figures  of  the  per  capita  consumption  as 
possible,  it  is  necessary  to  add  to  the  population  that 
of  four  suburbs — forming,  in  fact,  part  of  the  city, 
though  formerly  belonging  to  the  country  parishes — 
in  which  no  sale  of  spirits  whatever  takes  place.  The 
very  large  floating  population  {^Gothenburg  is  the  chief 
port  0/  Swede7i,  as  well  as  the  base  of  supply  for  large 
country  districts')  has  not  been  considered.  Secondly, 
to  the  quantity  of  liquor  sold  by  the  company  has 
been  added  that  disposed  of  by  the  licensees  having 
'  burgess'  rights,*  calculated  according  to  the  excise 
paid  by  them  ;  also  the  quantity  sold  by  the  twenty- 
three  wine  merchants,  according  to  the  license  fees 
exacted  from  them  by  the  company.  But  as  these 
dealers  estimate  that  at  least  one-half  of  their  goods 
are  ship':>ed  to  points  outside  of  the  city,  only 
one-half  enters  into  our  figures.  From  this  quantity, 
however,  has  been  deducted  the  quarts  of  higher- 
grade  spirits  sold  by  the  company,  which  are  always 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


45 


purchased  from  the  wine  merchants.  In  order  not  to 
make  the  estimate  too  low,  the  quantity  of  higher- 
grade  liquor  bought  by  the  privileged  licensees  ironi 
the  same  dealers  has  not  been  entered.  The  results 
thus  obtained  are  as  follows": 

Consumption  of  LuiUOR  in  Gotiiknburg,  1875-1892. 


1 
a. 

V 

•a  n-o  a 

mate 
latioi 
•then 
I  sub 

1875 

64,978 

1876 

06,847 

1877 

69,083 

1878 

71,749 

1879 

73,256 

1880 

75,264 

1881 

78,695 

1882 

80,117 

1883 

85,615 

1884 

89,173 

1885 

93,212 

1886 

97,392 

1887 

100,958 

1888 

104,332 

1889 

108,039 

1890 

112,264 

1891 

115,377 

1892 

117,918 

Sold  by 


a 

K 
C 

a 

o 


2  O  CO 

•r.  " 


Quarts.  [  Quarts. 
1,740,110.8  28,209.8 
1,844,739.1  28,209.h 

1.801.056.7  30,422.0 
1,721,830.6  30,422.0 
1,547,276.5  34,570.6 

1.401.892.5  34,570.0 
1,447,927.7(34,570.6 
l,358,094.2i35,953.4 
1,484,126  3  35,953.4 

1.553.262.6  40,102.0 

1.611.915.3  40,102.0 

1.655.502.1  42,268.0 

1.633.007.4  40,683.0 

1.670.564.8  44,909.8 

1.657.070.2  14,381.4 
1,714,668.8  67,628.8 
1,633,688.6J50,827.3 
1,523,251. 2153,891. 7 


CC 


m 

ii 


■A 


O 


.2  «J 


S'5 

O     «H 


Quarts. 
323,582.7 
323,582.7 
282,097.7 
323,582.7 
298,691.7 
241,304.2 
241,995.6 
253,063.4 
280,714.5 
288,011.7 
284,863.0 
271,035.1 
219,793.6 
219,793.6 
215,038.5 
215,038.5 
214,510.1 
214,510.1 


Quarts.  Qts. 

2,269,490.1  34.9 

2,380,431.6  35.6 

2,269,119  6  32.8 

2,288,132.8;  31.8 

2,077,288.5  28.3 

1.878.607.4  24.9 

1.863.033.5  23.6 

1.802.288.1  22.4 

1.692.908.2  19.7 
1,774,567.9  19.9 
1,834,640.41  19.6 

1.869.339.3  19.1 

1.790.987.6  17.7 

1.833.228.4  17.5 
1,8(0,532.4  16.6 
1,872,216.3  16.6 
1,764,915.0  15.2 
1,675,874,3  14.2 


The  facts  in  this  table  are  even  more  favorable  to 
the  company  than  the  preceding  one.  The  decrease 
in  spirits  drunk  in  Gothenburg  was  considerably  more 
than  one-half  from  1875  to  1892.  But  no  tabular  state- 
rnent  can  do  exact  justice  to  bo7ia  fide  inhabitants. 
The  average  citizen,  in  1892,  did  not  drink  14.2  quarts 
of  spirits.  This  is  easily  demonstrable  inferentially, 
though  not  measureable  statistically.  Gothenburg  is 
a  large  seaport,  and  a  prominent  centre  of  trade  and 
distribution.     There  is  always  a  large  transient  popu- 


40 


TIIK  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


if 


lation,  the  sailor  and  fisherman  elements  of  which  are 
hard  drinkers.  As  a  seaport  town,  provisioning  of 
steam,  sail,  and  fishing  vessels  is  largely  carried  on, 
and  this  for  our  present  discussion  is  a  very  important 
matter.  Dr.  Sigfrid  Wieselgren,  than  whom  there  is 
no  higher  authority  in  Sweden,  illustrates  the  position 
of  Gothenburg  by  another  striking  instance  : 

"  In  the  province  of  Westmanland  there  are  four 
little  towns,  of  which  the  two  larger  are  Westeras,  with 
a  population  of  a  little  more  than  8000,  and  Sala,  with 
about  6000  inhabitants.  In  both  these  towns  there  are 
'brandy  companies,'  which,  during  the  year  1891-92, 
sold  respectively  350,763  and  326,130  litres — i.  e. 
about  43  litres  per  head  of  the  population  in  Westeras, 
and  about  54  litres  per  head  in  Sala.  Now,  are  we  to 
believe  that  there  is  such  an  enormous  consumption  of 
spirits  in  these  two  towns  ?  By  no  means.  The  great 
sale  of  these  companies  is  very  easily  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  in  the  whole  province  there  is  only  one 
license  for  the  sale  of  spirits  in  the  country.  The  sale 
of  spirits  in  the  above  mentioned  towns  thus  repre- 
sents the  greater  part  of  the  consumption  of  spirits  in 
the  whole  province.  And  the  consumption  per  head 
of  the  population  in  the  whole  province  is  found  to  be 
7.24  litres. 

"  Now,  if  the  method  of  identifying  the  sale  of  spirits 
in  a  certain  place  with  the  consumption  of  spirits  in  the 
same  place  is  unreasonable  with  regard  to  Westeras 
and  Sala,  it  is  quite  as  unreasonable  with  regard  to 
Gothenburg.  According  to  the  same  calculation  as  in 
the  former  case,  the  consumption  of  spirits  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Gothenburg  was  for  the  year  in  question  8.50 
litres  per  head." 

The  statistics  of  sales  by  con'nanies  in  any  town  are 
not  a  fair  measure  of  individual  consumption  amongst 


THE  SC.A.NDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


47 


citizens.  The  more  important  the  city  is  as  a  trade 
centre,  and  the  wider  the  area  of  no-hcense  country 
districts  to  which  it  is  tributary,  the  greater  must  be 
the  allowance  made.  Even  the  small  towns  suffer  in 
proportion.  The  advance  of  prohibition,  or  practical 
no-license  in  the  country  districts,  has  cast  on  them  a 
burden,  so  far  as  published  statistics  of  drink  con- 
sumption is  concerned,  which  they  are  not  entitled  to 
bear.  Non-understanding  of  this  fact  has  led  to  foolish 
statements  comparing,  for  example,  the  consumption 
of  spirits  in  Gothenburg  with  other  places  outside  the 
country.  Bona  fide  residents  in  Gothenburg  and 
Stockholm,  in  Bergen  and  Christiania,  in  reality  drink 
little,  if  any,  more  than  their  compatriots,  though  sta- 
tistically, from  force  of  circumstances,  they  are  made 
to  appear  less  temperate. 

Below  are  statistics  of  sales  of  the  Stockholm  com- 
pany, both  as  regards  absolute  quantities  and  number 
of  quarts  per  inhabitant,  since  its  organization. 

Quantity  of  Liquor  Sold  tkr  Inhabitant  from 
October  1,  1877,  to  September  30,  1892. 


Inhabi- 
tants. 

Quarts  of 
liquor  sold. 

Quarts  per  Inhabitant. 

Years. 

At  bar- 
trade 
places. 

At  retail 
places. 

Total. 

1877-78.. 

1878-79.. 

1879-80. . 

1880-81 . . 

1881-82.. 

1882-83 

1883-84.. 

1884-85.. 

1885-86 . . 

1886-87.. 

1887-88. 

1888-89.. 

1889-90.. 

1890-91 . . 

1891-92.. 

153,528 
161,722 
163,040 
167,868 
174,702 
182,358 
190,842 
200,781 
211,139 
216,807 
221,549 
228,118 
236,350 
245,317 
248,051 

4,308,789.60 
4,082,591.47 
4,104,705.20 
4,145,625.09 
4,072,594.04 
3,913,585.51 
3,710,518.19 
3,947,429.19 
3,788,060.87 
3,775,410.36 
3,645,743.65 
3,574,102.90 
3,722,899.61 
3,643,581.12 
3,573,512.13 

14.61 

13.88 

13.47 

13.82 

13.10 

9.82 

9.01 

9.04 

8.02 

7.79 

7.51 

6.99 

6.86 

6.68 

6.49 

13.46 

11.36 

11.71 

10.88 

10.21 

11.64 

10.43 

10.62 

9.92 

9.62 

8.94 

8.68 

8.88 

8.18 

7.91 

28.07 
25.24 
25.18 
24.70 
23.31 
21.46 
19.44 
19.66 
17.94 
17.41 
16.45 
15.67 
15.74 
14.86 
14.40 

48 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


The  l)eneficial  effects  of  the  company's  operations 
are  set  forth  in  the  following  statement  from  the  annual 
report  of  the  brandy  company.  Possessing  170  licenses 
to  sell  over  the  bar,  in  the  year  1892,  it  made  use  of 
but  63  on  its  own  account  for  the  sale  of  native  spirits, 
transferring  80  to  other  parties,  to  be  utilized  in  traffic 
in  higher-grade  liquors.  Twenty-seven  it  did  not 
utilize  at  all.  As  regards  retail  licenses,  possessing  90, 
it  made  use  of  27,  transferred  51,  and  made  no  use 
of  12. 

The  sale  of  liquor  over  the  bar  in  1877,  when  the 
company  first  came  into  existence,  was  14.61  quarts  per 
inhabitant.  Successive  years  mark  an  almost  uniform 
decline,  until  in  the  last  fiscal  year  low-water  mark 
was  reached  at  6.49  quarts  per  capita.  In  the  same 
way,  the  retail  sales  have  declined  from  13.46  quarts 
per  inhabitant  in  1877  to  7.91  quarts  at  the  time  when 
the  last  annual  report  was  prepared.  Taking  these 
two  together,  we  find  that  the  total  consumption  per 
inhabitant,  which  in  1877  was  28.07  quarts,  now 
amounts  to  but  a  little  more  than  half  this  amount, 
namely,  14.40  quarts. 

The  preceding  table  does  not  include  the  sales  made 
by  the  sub-licensees.  The  fees  paid  by  the  latter  vary 
somewhat  in  proportion  to  the  business  done.  As  the 
amounts  received  annually  by  the  company  for  its  con- 
cessions show  a  decrease  rather  than  an  increase,  it 
seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  there  has  been  no 
increase  in  the  amount  of  liquor  consumed  on  the 
premises  of  sub-licensees. 

Borrowing  the  table  from  the  report  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Legislative  Commission,  which  has  been  made 
up  on  a  similar  basis  to  the  one  already  quoted  for 
Gothenburg,   slightly   different   figures   are  reached. 


IME  SCANDINAVIAN  SVSTKM. 


49 


The  lesson  is  the  same.  There  has  been  a  marked 
redaction  in  individual  consumption  of  spirits.  The 
table  covers  only  the  ten-year  period  from  1882  to 
1892. 

Consumption  op  Liquor  in  Stockholm,  1882-1892. 


YearH. 

Estimated 
popula- 
tion of 
Stock- 
holm and 
surroiiiid- 

iriK  dis- 
tricts. 

1882-83 

240.725 

1883-84 

250,149 

1884-85 
1885-86 
1886-87 

261,089 
271,928 
279.583 

1887-88 

284,764 

1888-89 
1889-90 

393,070 
3011.860 

1890-91 

804.094    \ 

1891-92 

308,528 

Sold  by 
Company. 


Quarts. 
8,913,585.51 
3.710.518  19 
3,947,429.19 
8,788,666.87 
3,775,410.30 
3,045,743.65 
3,574.102.90 
3,722,899.61 
3,043,581.12 
3.573,512.13 


Estimated 
Sales  ol' 
I'rivato 
Dealers. 


Total. 


Quarts.  | 
1.690,720 
1,090,720| 
1.690,720 
1,690,72'! 
1,690,720 
1,690,720 
1,637,885 
1,690,720 
1,585,050' 
1,585,050 


Quarts. 
5,604,305.51 
5,401,238.19 
5,638,149.19 
5,479,386.87 
5.466,130.36 
5,336.463.65 
5,211.987.90 
5,413.619.01 
5,228,631.12 
5,158,562.13 


Con- 
surap- 

tiou 

per 
InhaH 
itant. 


23.28 
21.59 
21.59 
20.15 
19.55 
18.73 
17.84 
17.99 
17.19 
16.71 


These  figures  are  far  from  just  to  the  citizens  of 
Stockholm.  Only  the  inhabitants  of  the  eight  sur- 
rounding parishes  have  been  added  to  those  of  the 
city  proper.  No  account  whatever  has  been  taken  of 
the  floating  population. 

The  history  of  the  formation  of  the  Stockholm  com- 
pany possesses  some  interest  because  of  the  successful 
application  of  the  principle  of  compensation,  a  matter 
not  under  purview  in  America,  but  which  from  the 
traditional  and  hereditary  tendencies  of  England,  must 
needs  be  considered  there. 

About  the  time  that  the  Gothenburg  company  cotn- 
menced  its  operations,  the  authorities  at  Stockholm, 
moved  by  the  increase  of  drunkenness  in  their  midst, 
commenced  to  consi  acr  the  question  of  liow  far  the 


50 


'rill'.   F.I(jL(»R    I  K AI'I'IC. 


I! 


company  system  mij^ht  be  applied  with  them.  Wlien 
the  municipal  council  first  looked  into  the  matter  they 
found  that  367  {)ermanent  licenses  existed;  of  tliis 
number  135  were  privileged,  and  most  of  them  were 
founded  upon  "  burg^ess  rij^hts."  None  of  the  latter 
class  could  be  taken  away  without  the  consent  or  the 
death  of  the  possessor,  and,  in  the  case  of  those  hold- 
ing^ upon  "  burgess  rij^hts,"  until  the  decease  of  the 
wife  of  the  one  possessing*  the  privilege.  A  commis- 
sion was  appointed  to  consider  the  legahty  of  the  basis 
on  which  a  part  of  the  permanent  licenses  reposed. 
They  reported  in  favor  of  a  plan  allowing  life-pensions 
of  not  more  than  $134  annually  to  holders  of  licenses 
by  *'  burgess  rights"  who  would  surrender  the  privilege. 
Later  a  somewhat  smaller  sum,  $120.60,  was  offered  as 
an  annuity  to  the  holders  of  other  permanent  licenses. 
As  might  have  been  expected,  this  offer  did  not  meet 
with  much  success,  for  the  reason  that  the  suggested 
compensation  was  inadequate.  Furthermore,  no 
account  was  taken  of  the  value  of  separate  businesses. 
All  who  possessed  "burgess  rights"  did  not  naturally 
derive  the  same  income,  while  as  regards  permanent 
licenses  some  would  certainly  be  more  favorably  situ- 
ated than  others.  It  is,  therefore, not  astonishing  to  find 
that  in  1875  there  still  remained  146  permanent  licenses, 
of  which  77  were  founded  on  **  burgess  rights,"  which 
had  not  been  surrendered  for  the  annuities  proposed. 
These,  of  course,  were  the  most  valuable  franchises, 
and  probably  would  never  be  surrendered  unless  some 
greater  advantage  were  offered.  Another  method  was 
now  tried.  Instead  of  waiting  for  the  licensees  to  take 
the  initiative,  the  commission  set  to  work  to  make  pri- 
vate arrangements  with  each  individual  holder,  and 
with  such  success  that  in  a  fortnight's  time  they  were 


1' 


I"  I  IK  SCANDINAVIAN  S  VST  KM. 


5' 


able  to  amioiincf  that  they  held  in  their  hands  the 
ay^recments  of  133  licensees  to  renounce  their  privi- 
leges in  consideration  ol  life  annuities — which,  in  the 
case  of  "  burgess  rights,"  was  to  be  extended  to  the 
wife — varying  (rotii  ;^i34  to  $536.  The  total  sum  thus 
given  for  the  possession  of  these  133  licenses  consti- 
tuted an  annual  charge  upon  the  municipal  treasury  at 
the  outset  of  $33,258.80.  So  quietly  had  the  matter 
been  arranged  that  no  opportunity  was  given  for  com- 
bination in  order  to  increase  the  price.  The  remain- 
ing thirteen  who  still  held  out  were,  therelore,  speedily 
brought  to  terms  on  most  advantageous  conditions  to 
the  city. 

When  the  company  began  operations  in  October, 
1877,  with  a  complete  monopoly  of  all  licenses  for  the 
conduct  of  the  retail  and  l}ar  sale  of  spirituous  liquors 
in  the  city,  it  seemed  to  be  handicapped  with  the  large 
annual  charge  upon  it  for  compensation  to  the  expro- 
priated license-holders.  In  fact,  many  wiseacres  at  the 
time  predicted  financial  disaster,  but  the  results  of  the 
first  year,  after  paying  all  expenses  and  6  per  cent, 
dividend  to  the  stockholders,  showed  sufficient  surplus 
to  provide  for  the  compensation  fund  for  a  considerable 
period  in  advance.  The  annual  charge  on  this  account 
has  diminished  from  year  to  year,  as  the  old  license- 
holdeis  have  died  off,  till  eight  only  survive  at  the 
present  day. 

Christiania,  the  capital  of  Norway,  and  a  city  now 
numbering  about  170,000  people,  possesses  a  brandy 
company  which  was  organized  in  July,  1885. 

Previous  to  this  there  were  seventy-two  saloon 
licenses  in  operation,  the  holders  of  which  also  sold 
liquor  to  a  considerable  extent  in  bottles.  Part  of  these 
privileges  were  held  for  life,  and  could  only  be  taken 


I' 


52 


'J'HK   LIOIOK     I'K.M-FIC. 


under  the  expropriation  proceedings  authorized  by  the 
law  of  1880,  which  gave  a  life  annuity  to  the  previous 
possessor  equal  to  the  average  annual  profit  on  his  busi- 
ness durini>  the  three  preceding  years.  The  bar-trade 
licenses  now  held  by  the  company  number  twenty- 
seven,  and  the  annual  charge  on  account  of  compen- 
;ration  to  holders  of  life  licenses  amounted  at  the  com- 
mencement to  $5,896.  It  has  since  been  reduced  to 
$3,484,  owing  to  the  death  of  several  to  whom  indem- 
nities had  been  adjudged.  The  company  to-day  pos- 
sesses the  largest  part  of  the  bar  trade  of  the  city.  It 
uses  fifteen  licenses  on  its  own  account,  and  concedes 
twelve  to  private  hotels  and  restaurants,  whose  owners 
have  been  approved  as  managers  in  the  service  of  the 
company. 

Twenty-nine  merchants  in  Christiania,  the  majority 
of  whom  are  grocers,  hold  licenses  for  retail  and  whole- 
sale trade  independentl'  of  the  company.  At  first  it 
was  a  question  of  expropriating  these  also,  in  order 
that  the  company  might  become  the  sole  retail  licensee, 
but  after  mature  consideration  it  was  decided  to  leave 
things  as  they  were,  since  it  was  feared  that  too  great 
a  financial  burden  might  ensue.  The  majority  of  the 
holders  of  these  licenses  are  now  old  men,  and,  in  the 
natural  course  of  aff-^irs,  at  their  death  their  privileges 
will  pass  to  the  possession  of  the  company  without 
payment. 

The  existence  of  these  licenses  is  a  serious  draw- 
back, as  are  also  the  special  bar-privileges  enjoyed  by 
a  theatre,  an  hotel,  and  two  clubs.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  company  dispenses  barely  40  per  cent,  of  the 
spirits  sold  in  bottles  and  over  the  bar.  Consequently, 
it  is  not  remarkable  that  the  following  table  giving  per 
capita  consumption  of  the  company's  wares  does  not 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


53 


show  a  decline.  There  is,  indeed,  a  slight  advance. 
Whether  or  not  more  spirits  are  actually  consumed  in 
proportion  to  population  now  than  formerly,  cannot  be 
estimated,  as  the  figures  of  sale  by  the  twenty-nine 
merchants,  the  clubs,  the  theatre,  and  the  hotel  for  pre- 
ceding years  are  not  available.  Such  a  supposition  is 
not  at  all  probable.  If  true,  it  would  constitute  an 
exception  to  experience  elsewhere.  The  lesson  to  be 
drawn  from  the  table  is  the  importance  of  entrusting 
the  company  with  a  complete  monopoly. 


Sales  from 

1886  TO  1891. 

Quarts  of  spirits  sold. 

Con- 

-■ -  ■     - 

sump- 

Year. 

tion  per 

At  bar-trade 

At  i-etail 

Total. 

inhabi- 

places. 

places. 

tant. 

Quarts. 

1886         ..      .. 

169,848 

129.033 

298,881 

2.2 

1887        . .      . . 

150.123 

159.448 

309.571 

2.3 

1888        . .      . . 

165.466 

184.054 

349,520 

2  5 

1889        . .      . . 

187.274 

210,691 

397,965 

2.8 

1890        . .      . . 

192,380 

207,785 

400,165 

2.6 

1891         ..      .. 

216.589 

202,254        418.843 

2.8 

1892         . .      . . 

215,796 

232,050 

448,048 

2.7 

The  increase  has  been  chiefly  in  the  bottle  trade,  and 
upon  this  the  growth  of  Christiania  as  a  seaport  and 
commercial  centre  has  undoubtedly  exercised  an 
influence. 

We  come  next  to  Bergen,  the  second  city  in  Nor- 
way and  its  chief  seaport. 

Statistics  of  the  company's  total  sales  are  to  be  seen 
in  the  following  table.  In  1877,  the  year  when  opera- 
tions were  commenced,  the  total  sales  of  spirituous 
liquors  amounted  to  282, 1 28  quarts  ;  in  1892,  to  351,695 
quarts.  In  the  meantime,  however,  the  population  had 
augmented    one-third,    so    that,   notwithstanding   the 


I! 


54 


THE   LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


absolute  increase,  the  conirair.pllon  per  inhaVjitant 
declined  from  7  quarts  in  1877  to  6.12  quarts  in  1892. 
The  decline  is  most  noticeable  in  dram-drmking. 
Whereas  in  1877  the  average  annual  consumption 
under  this  head  was  2.5  <\\i2,\\.^ pey  capita^  in  1892  it 
was  1.7  quarts. 

Sales  of  Brandy  in  Bergen,  1877  to  1892. 


-d  d 

Number  of  Quarts. 

0 

S2- 

cc'-dS 

V-  0  c  ,/ 

^ 

rt 

^.2 

U   5S 

2  o'-o-S 

0 

0  2  rH 

4-i  3  g  s 

OJ  0  3  tH 

3  OS 

1877.. 

40,760 

103,566 

166,810 

11,752 

5:2,128 

7.0 

1878.. 

41,5l:> 

90,962 

140,689 

7,933 

239,584 

5.8 

1879.. 

42,280 

73,812 

134,291 

8,389 

216,492 

5.1 

1880.. 

43,062 

68,508 

136,010 

8,123 

212,641 

4.9 

1881.. 

43,858 

73,574 

147,603 

8,526 

229,703 

5.2 

1882.. 

44,669 

77,509 

156.654 

7,025 

241,248 

5.4 

1883.. 

45,493 

78,744 

160;i26 

7,064 

245,934 

5.4 

1884.. 

46,332 

81,853 

165,761 

7,083 

254,697 

5.5 

1885.. 

47,995 

83,719 

159,820 

6,091 

249,630 

5.2 

1886.. 

48,335 

85,629 

154,500 

11,893 

252,022 

5.2 

1887.. 

49,623 

86,924 

146,220 

21,446 

254,590 

5.1 

1888.. 

50,902 

84,569 

139,961 

26,351 

250,881 

5.0 

1889.. 

52,252 

86,2,^6 

153,052 

28,421 

267,759 

5.1 

1890.. 

53,686 

88,844 

177,652 

30,894 

297,390 

5.5 

1891.. 

55,112 

97,101 

195,108 

39,133 

.^31,342 

6.0 

1892.. 

56,513 

101,406 

204,825 

45,464 

351,695 

6.2 

Since  1888  the  sales  per  inhabitant  have  increased. 
One  cannot  necessarily  say  that  local  consumption  has 
risen,  in  view  of  the  enormously  increased  tourist  traffic 
to  Norway  in  recent  years,  of  which  Bergen  is  the 
chief  point  of  debarkment,  the  visits  of  the  British  and 
German  fleets,  and  the  enhanced  wholesale  business 
of  the  company.  From  1887  to  1892  wholesale  sales 
increased  112  per  cent.,  and  no  part  of  them  can  be 


1  i 


Till-:  SCANDINAVIAN'  SYSTEM. 


55 


credited  to  local  consumption.  There  was  likewise  an 
advance  of  40  per  cent,  during  the  same  years  in  the 
bottle  trade,  a  very  large  part  of  which  was  not  at  all 
due  to  local  consumption,  but  to  the  tourist  traffic. 
From  1887  to  1892  sales  over  the  bar  increased  only 
14  per  cent.,  or  in  exactly  the  same  proportion  as  the 
advance  in  population;  this,  too,  notwithstanding  the 
presence  of  at  least  2500  additional  foreign  seamen. 

Mr.  Koren  has  prepared  the  following  table,  in  vv  hich 
he  has  deducted  one-quarter  of  the  sales  annually  as 
extra-local,  i.  e.  outside  consumption.  This  estimate, 
in  my  opinion,  errs  on  the  side  of  conservatism,  as 
applied  to  present  conditions.  But  even  if  my  view  be 
incorrect,  the  proportion  to-day  is  certainly  much 
greater  than  it  was  during  the  first  few  years  of  the 
company's  existence.  There  has  really  been  a  greater 
decline  than  the  table  makes  evident. 
Consumption  op  LiqijOk  in  Bergen  from  1877  to  1893. 


Estimated 
Population. 

si 

u 

6 

Sold  in  bottles 

at  retail 

stores. 

Sold  at  chief 

warehouse 

at  retail. 

Total,  deduct 
in^  one- 
fourth. 

1 

0  «  C+J 

a;  0  j- « 
—  *^  a'r 
S  £  5  S 

Quarts. 

Total  average 
consumption 
per  inhabi- 
tant. 

Quarts. 

Quarts. 

QviartS- 

Quarts. 

Quarts. 

1877 

40.760 

103,566 

166,810 

11,752 

211,596 

2.58 

5.19 

1878 

41, 'MS 

90.963 

140.689 

7,938 

179.691 

2.33 

4.32 

1879 

43.880 

73,812 

134.391 

8,389 

162.369 

1.79 

3.84 

1880 

43.063 

68,508 

136,010 

8,128 

159,480.7 

1.61 

3.7 

1881 

48,858 

73,574 

147.603 

8,526 

172,277.8 

1.70 

3.93 

1883 

44,669 

77.569 

156.654 

7,025  180,986 

1.74 

4.05 

1883 

45.493 

78,744 

160,136 

7,004  184,450.5 

1.73 

4.05 

1884 

46,333 

81,858 

165,761 

7.083  191,022.7 

1.76 

4.13 

1885 

47,995 

83.719 

159.830 

6.091  187.222.5 

1.79 

3.90 

1886 

48,335 

85.629 

154.300 

11,893  189.010.5 

1.76 

3.91 

1887 

49,633 

86,924 

146.220 

21.146 

190.717.5 

1.74 

3.84 

1888 

50.903 

84,569 

139.961 

26.851  188.160.7 

1.65 

3.69 

1889 

58,353 

86,286 

153.052 

28.421  200,819.2 

1.64   8.84 

1890 

53,686 

88.844 

177.653 

80.894  228,042.5 

1.64   4.15 

1891 

55,113 

97.100 

195.109 

89.133  248,506  5 

1.75  '  4.50 

1893 

56.513 

101,406 

204,825  45,464 

268.772.4 

1.79   4.60 

56 


THE  LIOUOR  TRAFFIC. 


The  late  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Wilson,  of  Bergen,  gave 
in  the  Labour  Prophetiox  September,  TS93,  ^n  interest- 
ing account  of  the  operation  of  the  company  system  in 
Christianssand,  which  is  here  reproduced.     He  says: 

"  The  first  Norwegian  controlling  society  was  estab- 
lished in  the  town  of  Christianssand,  and  commenced 
to  operate  on  January  ist,  1872.  The  population  of 
the  town  was  11,600,  and  the  population  of  the  rural 
district,  which  drew  its  supply  of  spirits  from  the  town, 
was  approximately  53,000.  Both  populations  may  be 
described  as  having  been  very  intemperate.  Only  the 
urban  population,  of  course,  became  directly  subject 
to  the  society's  control,  while  the  rural  population 
continued  to  have  spirits  in  wholesale  quantities  des- 
patched into  the  country  for  home  consumption  as 
before,  the  society  being  unable  to  exercise  control  on 
that  wholesale  trade.  In  1872  the  entire  wholesale 
consumption  of  spirits  supplied  by  private  wholesale 
traders  was  78,897  litres,  and  by  the  society  10,263 
litres:  together,  89,160  litres.  The  total  consumption 
of  spirits  in  Christianssand  and  the  rural  district,  whole- 
sale and  retail,  was,  in  1872,  224,627  litres,  while  the 
corresponding  consumption  had  fallen  in  1892  to 
133,806  litres,  that  is  equal  to  a  reduction  of  more 
than  40  per  cent.  In  1892  the  consumption  was  unduly 
increased,  in  consequence  of  a  very  large  influx  of  the 
roughest  class  of  laborers,  that  followed  upon  the  com- 
mencement of  the  construction  of  a  railway  and  a  con- 
flagration that  destroyed  half  the  town.  If  we  com- 
pare the  consumption  of  1891  with  that  of  1872,  and 
that  is,  under  the  circumstances,  the  truest  guide,  we 
find  that  the  consumption  in  1891  was  115,890  litres, 
or  a  reduction  of  a  little  more  than  48  per  cent. 

"The  society's  share  capital  is  $11,110,  but  only 
half  has    been   called    up.      The    working   capital   is 


i 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


57 


therefore  only  $5,555,  and  was  held  in  1892  by  68 
shareholders.  The  net  profit  on  the  capital  employed 
was,  in  the  first  year's  operations,  $13,410,  or  close 
upon  342  per  cent. 

"The  number  of  municipal  spirit  licenses  was  fixed 
at  eight.  The  society  acquired  the  monopoly  of  them, 
but  only  exercised  five,  and  have  since  reduced  the 
number  to  four.  It  now  has  three  ordinary  spirit  bars, 
and  one  shop  for  sale  in  bottles  and  wholesale 
quantities. 

"  The  reduction  in  consumption  that  followed  on  the 
introduction  of  control  was  immediately  accompanied 
by  beneficent  results  in  relation  to  crime,  poor  relief, 
savings  banks,  increased  consumption  of  current 
domestic  necessaries,  etc.,  which  all  indicated  great 
advantages  derived  from  control.  Fcr  instance,  the 
annual  average  of  criminal  cases  for  the  five  preceding 
years  was  71,  and  it  fell  at  once  to  47.  The  annual 
average  of  police  offenses  connected  with  drunkenness 
was,  in  the  five  preceding  years,  97,  and  it  at  once  fell 
to  56.  Cases  of  picking  the  pockets  of  intoxicated 
persons,  previously  a  common  ofiense,  entirely  ceased. 

"  At  first  the  society  kept  its  premises  open  for  the 
full  number  of  hours  permitted  by  the  licensing  law — 
viz.,  from  8  A.  M.  till  10  P.M., that  is,  14  hours.  Now 
it  only  keeps  them  open  for  9J  hours — viz.,  9  A.  M. 
till  noon,  and  1.30  till  8  P.  M. — the  retail  shop  being 
closed  at  7.30  P.  M. 

"The  Christianssand  Society's  bar  sales,  which  in 
1872  were  41,376  litres,  had  fallen  in  1876  to  32,387 
litres,  although  the  total  sales,  which  in  1872  were 
224,627  litres,  had  risen  in  1876  to  269,046  litres.  The 
times  had  in  that  quinquennial  period  been  very  flour- 
ishing,  especially    in    the  rural  districts.     There  was 


5« 


THE  LIOUOK   TRAFFIC. 


abundance  of  employment  at  previously  unknown  high 
wages ;  yet  it  is  a  striking  and  satisfactory  circumstance 
to  note  that,  in  spite  of  the  increased  total  consump- 
tion, the  bar  sales  were  greatly  reduced,  as  it  is  the  bar 
sales  that  afford  the  truest  guide  to  the  effects  of 
control. 

"In  the  21  years  the  society  has  operated  it  has 
earned  net  profits  to  the  amount  of  $273,620.68,  which 
have  all  gone,  or  will  yet  go,  to  support  objects  of  public 
benefit  and  utility  which  are  not  statutory  burdens  on 
the  local  taxpayers.  To  show  the  nature  of  the  objects 
of  '  public  benefit  and  utility,'  I  will  name  a  few : 
Workmen's  Union  Evening  School ;  School  of  Cook- 
ery ;  Board  and  Lodging  for  Diligent  Board  School 
Children  during  their  Holidays  in  the  Country  ;  Chris- 
tianssand  School  of  Industry ;  Christianssand  Tech- 
nical School ;  Boys'  Industrial  School ;  Workmen's 
Union  Library;  Cathedral  S'^hool  Library  and 
Museum;  Board  Schools  Pupils'  Library;  Town's 
Library;  numerous  Abstinence  Societies,  Good  Tem- 
plar Lodges,  and  Blue  Ribbonmen  Societies ;  Sick 
Nurses'  Institution;  Magdalene  Refuge;  Discharged 
Female  Prisoners'  Homes ;  Prisoners'  Aid  Society ; 
Public  Sea  Baths  for  Men ;  Public  Sea  Baths  for 
V/omen;  Quay  Laborers'  Waiting  Rooms;  Work- 
men's Union  Sick  Fund  ;  Industrial  Society  for  Needy 
Women  ;  Workmen's  Union  Asylum  ;  numerous  Asy- 
lums for  Children,  and  a  host  of  other  similar  benefi- 
cial objects  too  numerous  to  detail  here. 

"  The  burgomaster  and  the  superintendent  of  police, 
and  the  British  and  American  consuls  in  Christians- 
sand,  have  been  good  enough  to  favor  me  quite  recently 
with  their  opinions  in  writing  of  what  the  local  con- 
trolling society  has  effected,  and  they  unanimously 
report  that  the  operations  of  the  society  have  unques- 


1 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


59 


\ 


tionably  been  of  immense  benefit  in  the  promotion  of 
temperance  and  sobriety  in  the  locality. 

"  Personally,  I  have  known  this  town  well  for  34 
years,  and  my  experience  quite  coincides  with  that  of 
the  four  gentlemen  nafned." 

The  Massachusetts  Legislative  Commission  has  pub- 
lished a  table  giving  a  resume  oi'  per  capita  consump- 
tion during  the  differen':  years.  It  differs  somewhat  in 
the  estimate  of  the  number  of  persons  within  the  area 
of  the  company's  operations.  Like  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr. 
Koren  attributes  the  sharp  rise  in  bar  drinking  during 
1892  mainly  to  the  influx  of  laborers  employed  in 
rebuilding  the  town  after  the  disastrous  fire. 

Consumption  of  Liquor  in  Ciiristianssand,  1872-92. 


1  ■  ^ 

a.2'0  u 

0  t-  AT 

Sold  by  the  Company 

1  i^ 

AS  at: 

0J5 

02  =* 

1— 1 

03 

0  at: 

0 

6 

Quarts. 

0 
< 

0 

Quarts. 

Quarts. 

Quarts. 

Quarts. 

Qts. 

1872 

31,897 

42,874   97,498 

10,635 

81,753 

232,760 

7.29 

1873 

32,225 

46,103  111,742 

12,808 

126,040 

296,693 

9.20 

1874 

32,405 

41,314  127,187 

6,075 

152,110 

326,686 

10.08 

1875 

32,737 

38,294  137.284 

11,575 

123,746 

310,879 

9.49 

1876 

32,998 

33,560  128,871 

6,768 

109,589 

278,789 

8.44 

1877 

33,316 

37,965 

125,977 

2,763 

116,502 

283,207 

8.50 

1878 

33,501 

40,849 

109,046 

2,227 

45,452 

197,424 

5.89 

1879 

33,630 

37,072 

88,694 

2,212 

49,664 

177,642 

5.28 

1880 

33,894 

38,354 

86,168 

1,020 

38,064 

163,609 

4.82 

1881 

34,164 

35,099 

94,143 

1,689 

26,090 

157,621 

4.61 

1882 

34,471  21,826.1 

100,167.8 

2,870  2 

36,877.8 

161,241.9 

4.67 

1883 

31,684  16,439 

102,413.3 

3,107.8 

48,859.7 

170,819.8 

4.92 

18S4 

34,992  15,415 

102,493.6 

2,287.8 

18,611.7 

138,808.2 
165,144.3 

3.96 

1885 

35,214 

16,578.6 

97,859.9 

1,192.0 

49,513.8 

4.68 

1886 

35,262 

14,715.6 

96,275.9 

578.0 

21,869.5 

133,439 

3.77 

1887 

35,316 

13.134.8 

88,157.3 

681.6 

20,757.8 

122,731.5 

3.47 

1888 

35,516 

13.202.3 

86,323.9 

528.4 

21,899.1 

121,953.7 

3.43 

1889 

35,721 

13.626  1 

87,317.2 

305.6 

12,652.9 

113,961.8 

3.19 

1890 

35,878 

14,866.6 

100,580.9 

696.4 

12.664.5 

128,788.4 

3.58 

1891 

36,178 

18,220.7 

98,049.1 

253.6 

5,937.6 

122,461 

3.38 

1892 

37,000i 

23,265.5114,917.1 

675.2 

2,134.5 

140,982.7 

3.81 

i 


it 


in 


J' 


60 


THE   LIQUOR  TRAF-'FIC. 


The  number  of  licenses  exploited  furnishes  in  a 
measure  a  criterion  of  the  companies'  efforts  to  reduce 
temptation  and  to  restrict  consumption.  When  the 
system  was  inaugurated  in  1871  the  number  of  saloon 
licenses  in  existence  in  Norwegian  towns  and  cities  was 
501 ;  to-day  but  227  are  utilized.  Companies  have  the 
legal  right  to  use  nearly  the  original  number,  but  they 
refrain  from  doing  so  in  the  public  interest.  Expressed 
m  the  form  of  proportion  to  inh^bitantj,  the  reduction 
has  been  from  i  for  591  to  i  for  1413  persons.  In  the 
entire  country  district  of  Norway  but  25  licenses  for 
the  sale  of  spirits  remain — i  to  about  8000  people. 
Half  of  these  are  at  the  fishing  stations  in  tiie  north. 

Statistics  for  Sweden  are  not  availtble  far  enough 
back  to  show  the  full  measure  of  improvement.  In 
1880  there  were  692  inhabitants  to  one  license  to  sell 
spirits  (both  retail  and  bar  licenses  are  included) ;  in 
1892  there  was  but  one  license  to  every  1073  people. 
In  the  country  districts  the  respective  ratios  during  the 
same  period  were  i  for  13,450  and  i  for  22,526  persons. 

Following  are  tables  for  Gothenburg,  Stockholm 
and  Bergen.     They  speak  for  themselves. 


ft 


!:! 

1! 


THE  SC.'XNDlN.Wl.AN  SVSTKM. 

GOTHENBURG. 

Licenses  Used  and  Popul.vtion  Compared,  from 
October  l,  1805,  to  September  30,  1893. 


6i 


1 

Retail  1 

icenses 

Licenses  used 
for  eonsump- 

Retail 
licenses  used 

transferred 

o    wriie  nier- 

chants'for 

tioii  (J 

n  the 

by 

the 

the  sale  of 

Years. 

Popula- 
tion of 
Gothen- 

premises. 

company. 

higher-Kiade 
spirits. 

burg. 

_     __.__ 

0,000 

ibi- 

ts. 

■ 

0.000 
lin- 
ts. 

• 

0,000 
I  bi- 
ts. 

a 

3 

^1   ^   ^ 

1>  c  " 

a 

3 

.-1  »  e 

1 

'Z 

P^-" 

!2: 

W 

"A 

0.- 

1 865-06 

45,750 

23 

5.0 

1866-67 

47,332 

28 

5.9 

__ 

1867-68 

47,898 

30 

6.3 





... 

1868-69 

50,438 

43 

8.5 

— 



— 

1869-70 

52,526 

42 

8.0 



__^ 

1870-71 

53,822 

43 

8.0 

— 

— 

1871-72 

55,110 

42 

7.6 

— 

1872-73 

55,986 

42 

7.5 

— . 

— 

.— 

: 873-74 

56,909 

41 

7.2 

— _ 

,»-. 

1874-75 

58,307 

35 

6.0 

7 

1.2 

13 

2.2 

1875-76 

59,986 

36 

6.0 

7 

1.2 

13 

2.2 

1876-77 

61,505 

38 

6.2 

7 

1.1 

13 

2.1 

1877-78 

63,391 

38 

6.0 

7 

1.1 

15 

2.4 

1878-79 

65,697 

40 

6.1 

7 

1.1 

16 

2.4 

1879-80 

66,844 

39 

5.8 

7 

1.0 

18 

2.7 

1880-81 

68,477 

40 

5.8 

7 

1.0 

17 

2.5 

1881-82 

71,533 

40 

5.6 

7 

1.0 

19 

2.7 

1882-83 

72,555 

40 

5.5 

7 

1.0 

22 

3.0 

1883-84 

77.653 

38 

4.9 

7 

.9 

23 

3.0 

1884-85 

80.811 

39 

4.8 

7 

.9 

23 

2.8 

1885-86 

84,450 

40 

4.7 

7 

.8 

22 

2.6 

1886-87 

88,230 

40 

4.5 

7 

.8 

23 

2.6 

1887-88 

91.396 

40 

4.4 

7 

.8 

23 

2.5 

1888-89 

94,370 

40 

4.2 

7 

.7 

23 

2.4 

1889-90 

97,677 

40 

4.1 

7 

.7 

23 

2.4 

1890-91 

101,502 

40 

3.9 

7 

23 

2.3 

1891-92 

104.215 

40 

3.8 

7 

.7 

23 

2.2 

1892-93 

106,350 

40 

3.8 

7 

.7 

23 

2.2 

62 


TIIK  LIQUOR  TK.\F!-MC. 


Since  October  i,  1868,  the  company  lias  held  all  the 
licenses  for  consumption  on  the  premises,  with  the 
exception  of  four  houses  which  have  ancient  and 
special  privilege  for  serving  superior  liquors  princi- 
pally, and  from  October  i,  1874.  all  the  retail  licenses 
have  been  in  the  hands  of  the  company. 

Licenses  in  Stockholm,  1880  to  1802. 


Bar -trade. 

Retail. 

1 

Licenses  vised 

,     <i^  09 

,  0  «3 

per  1U,()0() 

. 
c 

a 

B 
0 

• 

inhabitants. 

Year. 

d  by  c 
ers  for 
adesp 

m 

Q 
CS 

a 

S 

0 

i;  J;  a 

0 

K 

Ilai- 
trade. 

Ketail. 

>> 
,0 

V 
00 

or  be 

3 
C 

e2 

m 

Vi 

u 

<L  s  b 

^? 

ct^  be 

3 

3 

H 

Company. 

-3 
U 

u 
0 
tt-l 
to 

a 
a 

3 

oa 

a 

B 

0 
0 

1 

hi 

00 

3 

67 

ao 

20 

170 

27 

ao 

12 

90 

3.1 

3  8 

1  ** 

H 

1886-87 

83 

51 

2.4 

1887-88 

67 

86 

17 

170 

27 

51 

12 

90 

1888-89 

66 

84 

20 

170 

27 

51 

12 

90 

^_ 



^, 

1889-90 

65 

86 

19 

170 

27 

51 

12 

90 

,,  , 

1 

, 

1890-91 

64 

84 

22 

170 

27 

51 

12 

90 

__ 

» 



„ 

1891-92 

63 

80 

27 

170 

27 

51 

12 

90 

2.5 

3.2  1.1 

2.1 

1892-93 

63 

80 

27 

170 

""— 

10 

90 

— 



TlIK  SLANDINAVIAN   SYSTEM. 


(53 


LlCKNSKS    IN 

Bkkgkn, 

1877  TO 

1891. 

CO 

;52. 

>.u 

rJcicriHi's  plT 

^j     rg,     ^ 

7  ^*- 

^1    w 

10,000  Inhubltunts. 

^^Z. 

*:«-  c 

a-a 

, 

Year. 

1 
5 

c  a 

O  «8 

o 

Ah 

t   :,.  O   - 

of 
VI  O 

'fi  fl 

<^2  > 

2ii 

^5 

1—  ■^ 

1877.. 

40,760 

14 

60 

3.5 

15.0 

1878.. 

41,512 

14 

60 

.^— 

„„  ^ 

1879.. 

42.280 

14 

60 

.— — 

...^ 



1880.. 

43,062 

13 

60 

_ 

«a^B 

1881.. 

43.858 

13 

60 

— » 

,_^ 

1 

1882.. 

44,669 

13 

60 



— 

1883.. 

45,493 

13 

58 

2 

— 

« 

1884.. 

46,332 

13 

57 

3 

— 



1885.. 

47  995 

13 

56 

4 



. 

1886.. 

48,335 

13 

56 

4 

— 

—^ 

1887.. 

49,623 

13 

56 

4 

— 

«. 

1888.. 

50,902 

13 

56 

4 

— 

1889.. 

52,252 

13 

56 

4 

— 

1 

1890.. 

53.686 

13 

56 

4 

., 

1891.. 

55.112 

13 

56 

4 

2.4 

10.4 

Entrance  of  the  company  upon  the  field  of  action 
has  undoubtedly  prevented  the  licenses  granted  to 
private  individuals  for  the  sale  of  wine  and  beer  over 
the  bar  from  keeping  pace  with  the  advance  in  popu- 
lation. 

In  Christiania  and  in  Christianssand,  under  the  old 
regime,  the  ratio  of  saloon  licenses  to  population  was 
I  to  i8i6  and  i  to  1274.  In  1892  the  respective  pro- 
portions were  i  to  5516  and  i  to  2566.  Compare  the 
figures  for  these  five  Scandinavian  towns  with  cities  of 
the  same  size  in  England  and  America  and  note  the 
difference. 


64 


THI':   I.IOUOK  TKAII'IC. 


■  i 


Only  the  merest  tyro  in  statistical  science  would 
attempt  to  J4auj»;e  the  efficiency  A'  any  method  for  con- 
troll  inj^  the  liquor  traffic  by  the  number  of  arrests  for 
drunkenness.  Especially  will  well-informed  persons 
refrain  from  making  international  comparisons.  Laws 
relating  to  drunkenness  differ  materially,  and  there  is 
still  greater  variance  of  police  {)ractice  in  dealing  with 
offenders.  In  Sweden  the  law  requires  that  a  person 
showing  signs  of  being  fuddled  shall  be  taken  U{). 
Anglo-Saxon  policy  is  based  on  the  exhibition  of  utter 
helplessness  or  disorderly  conduct.  Regulations  appor- 
tioning a  part  of  the  fines  to  police  funds  furnish  an 
artificial  incentive,  while  the  progressive  popular  intol- 
erance of  inebriety  which,  accompanies  a  reforming 
regime  plays  likewise  a  most  important  part.  Pub- 
lished statistics  of  drunkenness  are  usually  valueless, 
because  they  are  rarely  differentiated  to  show  how 
many  times  the  same  person  was  arrested.  Only  such 
figures  can  indicate  whether  the  actual  number  of  per- 
sons drinking  to  excess  is  on  the  increase,  or  whether 
professional  tipplers  are  simply  indulging  more  freely. 
Furthermore,  the  area  to  which  any  system  applies 
must  be  studied  as  a  whole,  and  not  individual  districts 
alone.  It  is  evident  that,  if  there  l)e  "no-license"  in 
the  country,  and  "  license  "  in  the  towns,  the  former  s 
more  jovial  inhabitants  will  utilize  occasional  visits  to 
the  cities  to  drink  to  excess.  Statistically,  though  not 
really,  such  offenses  belong  to  the  places  where  they 
are  committed. 

Statistics  of  drunkenness  in  Nor^vay  are  not 
published  for  the  kingdom  as  a  whole.  In  Sweden 
the  number  of  convictions  declined  from  6.7  per  1000 
inhabitants  in  1874  to  4.3  in  1891.  The  advance 
of  prohibition   in   surrounding   country  districts   has 


'11 1 1:  StANDIN  W  IAN   SVSri-.M. 


added  to  the  l)iirden  of  larji»e  cities,  l)Ut  the  prime 
cause  of  increase,  where  such  has  taken  place,  is  the 
uncontrolled  consumption  ol  beer.  All  reliable  author- 
ities a^ree  in  this  estimate,  and  their  opinions  are 
confirmed  by  the  statistics  of  beer  drinkinj^^  Con- 
sumption of  malt  licjuors,  which  advanced  in  Sweden 
from  1 6  quarts  i)er  inhabitant  in  1874  to  28.2  quarts  in 
1890,  and  in  Norway  from  16.9  quarts  per  inhabitant 
in  1 87 1  to  31.2  quarts  in  1891,  cannot  have  been  with- 
out potent  influence.  Is  decreased  consumption  of 
spirits,  which  are  sold  under  strict  reticulation,  or 
increased  consumption  of  beer  which  is  dispensed 
without  restrictions,  in  the  nature  of  things  more 
likely  to  account  for  drunkenness  ? 

It  sliould  be  remembered  in  this  connection,  in  reply 
to  the  assc'*tion  sometimes  made  that  decreased  con- 
sumption of  topirits  in  Scandinavia  is  offset  by  the 
increased  quantity  of  fermented  drinks  consumed,  that 
the  increase  of  the  latter  scarcely  compares  unfavorably 
with  the  same  in  Germany  and  France,  but  that  in 
those  countries  under  the  private  pruf.h  system  the 
£07iS7tmptio?i  of  spirits  has  7iearly  {in  Gernmny^  or 
quite  (in  France')  doubled,  zvhile  in  Scandi7iavia  under 
the  Conipany  system  it  has  diminished  one-half.  In 
the  United  States,  too,  the  beer  consumption  in  the 
corresponding  period  has  increased  vastly  more  than 
in  Scandinavia  (from  20.2  quarts  per  capita  in  1871  to 
64.32  quarts  in  1893),  with  an  increase  in  spirit  con- 
sumption concurrently. 

Returning  again  to  the  relation  of  drunkenness  to 
the  company  system,  the  opinion  of  those  in  positions 
of  admii:  strative  authority,  where  good  opportunities 
exist  for  correct  judgment,  is  that  compared  with  pre- 
vious conditions,  the  effect  of  the  existing  r6gime  has 


66 


THE   I.IOUOR  TRAFFIC. 


been  to  brin<y  about  a  notable  decline  in  drunkenness 
and  a  very  marked  improvement  in  general  sobriety. 
The  governors  of  provinces  in  their  last  quinquennial 
reports  submitted  answers  to  inquiries  in  this  direction. 
Twenty-one  of  them  responded  that  drunkenness  had 
considerably  diminished  in  their  respective  regions, 
one  that  the  situation  had  remained  unchanged,  one 
that  drunkenness  had  not  diminished,  and  two  that  it 
was  difficult  to  form  an  opinion.  The  t  stimony  of 
experience,  whether  from  those  favorably  or  unfavor- 
ably inclined  to  particular  features  of  the  Scandinavian 
system,  is  that  it  has  undoubtedly  effected  an  impor- 
tant reform  in  drinking  habits,  particularly  of  working 
people. 

Statistics  of  pauperism  abound  with  even  more 
treacherous  pitfalls  for  the  unwary.  Everywhere 
public  sense  of  responsibility  towards  the  unfortunate 
has  deepened  during  the  last  three  or  four  decades. 
The  logical  result  is  chat  this  class  is  not  only  better  cared 
for,  but  more  are  being  helped.  To  find  the  pauper 
constituency  advancing  statistically  does  not  necessa- 
rily argue  deterioration  of  habit,  growing  failure  of 
self-respect,  or  the  application  of  sentimental  methods 
in  relief.  The  concentration  of  population  in  urban 
centres  represents  in  laige  degree  a  flocking  together 
of  the  unfit.  Here  public  institutions  to  care  for 
those  who  fail  in  life's  struggle  exist  in  great  variety. 

Methods  of  enumerating  the  poor  differ  in  various 
countries  and  at  diiferent  periods.  As  an  illustration, 
in  Sweden  during  recent  years,  those  receiving  gratui- 
tous hospital  or  dispensary  treatment  figure  in  the 
pauper  record.  Take  another  case  showing  diverg- 
ence in  systems  of  registration.  In  Gothenburg,  if  the 
head  of  a  family   is  heli)ed  by  having  his  rei.t  paid 


'J  HE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM. 


67 


from  the  poor  rate,  the  whole  family  are  inscribed  as 
paupers.  Supposing  there  are  eight  children  and  that 
both  parents  are  alive,  there  would  be  ten  recipients  of 
relief.  If  rents  were  paid  in  this  manner  monthly, 
during  eight  months  the  record  would  show  eighty 
paupers;  if  weekly,  during  the  same  period  about  350. 
Figures  which  indicate  that  one  person  in  every  nine 
inhabitants  of  a  thriving  commercial  city  is  a  pauper 
ought  to  arouse  suspicion  in  any  discerning  mind. 
Yet  the  totals  have  been  accepted  and  quoted  by 
adverse  critics  in  England  and  the  United  States  as 
evidence  that  somehow  or  other  unparalleled  poverty 
is  closely  connected  with  the  company  system. 

Crime  bears  a  positive  relation  to  drink,  but  the 
terms  of  this  relation  cannot  be  mathematically  ex- 
pressed. There  is  always  a  tendency  among  the 
lapsed,  who  especially  appreciate  the  value  of  symp- 
athy, to  lay  all  their  misfortunes  to  tippling.  This 
remark  is  made  without  wishing  in  the  least  to  cast 
doubt  upon- the  belief  that  drink  is  a  tremendous  factor 
in  criminality. 

In  concluding  this  chapter,  a  word  may  be  offered 
on  the  subject  of  the  surplus  revenues  arising  from  the 
sale  of  drink.  The  Norwegian  method  of  distribution 
possesses  one  strikingly  meritorious  quality.  Owner- 
ship of  a  share  of  capital  stock  carries  with  it  the  right 
to  vote  for  representatives  on  the  committee  of  man- 
agement, to  which  belongs  the  function  of  apportion- 
ment of  the  company's  quota.  Public  interest  in  the 
operation  of  the  company  is  thus  widened.  It  is  not 
far  from  axiomatic  truth  to  say  that  whenever  civic 
spirit  is  aroused,  and  the  attention  of  that  class  of  the 
community  which  makes  philanthropy  an  avocation  is 
enlisted,  particular  objects  of  scrutiny  will  behave 
circumspectly. 


6S 


THI':    LIOUOR    TRVI-FIC. 


In  the  distribution  of  surplus  revenues  under  the 
company  system  three  principal  objects  should  receive 
generous  recognition.  The  first  of  these  is  education, 
not  in  its  general  but  in  its  special  phases.  Part  of  the 
revenues  should  be  appropriated  to  found  kinder- 
gartens, manual  training  schools,  and  schools  of  indus- 
trial art.  Kindergartens  are  selected  because  results 
testify  unimpeachably  to  the  useful  moral  efifects  oi 
their  training.  What  other  agency  can  boast  of  a 
record  like  that  of  the  San  Francisco  kindergartens? 
An  investigation,  following  ten  thousand  children  in 
after-life,  has  disclosed  the  astounding  fact  that  only 
one  kindergarten  child  has  been  arrested. 

Manual  training  institutions  invite  support  because  a 
boy  whose  eyes  and  hands  are  early  trained  to  trans- 
late ideas  into  material  objects  is  not  likely  later  to 
become  a  burden  to  society  through  inability  to  earn 
a  living.  His  mechanical  aptitudes  become  so  much 
capital.  Industrial  art  schools  have  a  claim,  in  order 
that  scope  may  be  given  young  women  as  well  as 
young  men  to  develop  higher  industrial  capacities. 

Kindergarten  and  manual  training  have  received  too 
scanty  recognition  in  Anglo-Saxon  educational  polity. 
The  one  represents  the  ethical,  the  other  the  industrial 
element  in  education.  Neglect  of  home-training  dur- 
ing the  period  when  the  character  is  chiefly  formed, 
and  that  environment  of  childhood  inimical  to  sound 
physical  and  moral  development  which  obtains  in 
every  large  city,  emphasize  the  importance  of  the  one, 
as  the  economic  benefits  of  superior  craftship  delineate 
the  advantages  of  the  other. 

Saloons  minister  in  two  respects  to  the  workingman. 
They  are  labor  exchanges  and  social  centres.  To 
abolish  these  without  providing  substitutes  would  be 


THE  SCAXDIXAVIAX  SYSTEM. 


69 


.rank   injustice.     Therefore   it   becomes   necessary   to 
apportion  a  generous  share  of  the   profits  of  liquor 
companies  for  this  purpose.     To  carry  out  the  idea,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  have  coffee-houses  and  rooms  for 
reading  and  entertainment,  as  well  as  for  hire  for  social 
gatherings.     Let  as  many  as  possible  of  the  recreative 
features  of  a  gentleman's  club  be  introduced.     The 
saloon  should  be  closed  promptly  at  7  o'clock,  so  that, 
from  this  time  on,  the  coffee-houses  may  be  the  rally- 
ing-grounds.     Soft   drinks,   light  refreshments,  news- 
papers, pool  and  billiards,  draughts  and  chess,  smoking 
and  conversation,  should  be  elements  in  the  entertain- 
ment.    If   possible,    the    attractiveness   of  the   well- 
equipped    modern   saloon   should   be   outdone.     Let 
these   privileges  accompany   the   purchase   of  a  soft 
drink  or  a  portion  of  refreshment,  and  the  American 
free  lunch  of  to-day  will  never  be  regretfully  recalled. 
There  ought   also  to  be  liberal  appropriations  for 
popular  evening  concerts.     These  should  be  held  at 
frequent  intervals  in  different  parts  of  a  city,  so  as  to 
be  easily  accessible  to  everybody.     The  admission  fee 
should    be   such   as   the  workingman  and  his  family 
could  readily  support,  and  the  inevitable  deficit  made 
up  by  subsidies  from  the  liquor  fund.     Popularization 
of  music   and    art    is    of  great  civilizing  importance. 
Its    sociological    import,   too,    is    of  the  highest.     It 
reacts    favorably    upon  family    life,    and    saves    male 
members   from    the   unfortunate  or   evil   associations 
surrounding  saloon    and  cheap  music  hall  entertain- 
ments.    No  class  of  persons  stand  in  greater  need  of 
recreation  than  working-people,  yet  to  no  other  is  so 
little  a\ailable.     The  conditions  of  city  life  need  to  be 
vastly  ameliorated  in  this  and  other  ways  before  an 
appreciable  diminution  of  drinking   can   be   brought 
about. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  COMPANY  SYSTEM  THE  BEST  METHOD  OF 

CONTROL. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  preface  this  final 
chapter  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  the  Scandinavian  system  of  control. 

I.  The  supreme  advantage  of  the  company  system 
is  the  elimination  of  private  profit  from  liquor-selling. 
Through  this  means,  what  we  may  regard  as  at  best  a 
dangerous  traffic  is  taken  from  the  hands  of  a  self- 
seeking  class  of  persons,  frequently  of  a  low  type,  and 
always,  perhaps,  endowed  with  an  inrpcrfect  sense  of 
moral  responsibility,   and   given   to   an   organization 
representing  disinterested  public  welfare.     The  busi- 
ness is  then  carried  on  with  a  view  of  reducing  con- 
sumption to   the   lowest   possible  limits.     Not  infre- 
quently, as  in  the  case  of  the  Gothenburg  company 
under  the  administration  of  Dr.  Sigfrid  Wiesel^ren, 
the  directing  authority  is  composed  of  men  who  abomi- 
nate the  whole  business  and  take  charge  only  from  a 
sense   of  public  duty   and  in   order   that   they   may 
minimize   the  evils  and  ultimately   extinguish   them. 
No  company  can  give  better  evidence  of  its  philan- 
thropic aim  than  to  place  its  direction  in  the  hands 
of  a  sensible  temperance  man ;  nor  ought  any  high- 
minded  abstainer  to  shrink  from  the  task.     If  liquor 
must   be  sold — and    few,    even    of  the   most   ardent 
prohibitionists,  will  deny  that  it  will  continue  to  be  for 
some  time  yet— is  it  not  vastly  better  to  take  the  traffic 


THE  CUM  [WW  SVSTF.M. 


71 


from  the  control  of  the  present  lower  element  of 
society,  representing^  but  moderate  intelligence  and 
inferior  moral  perception,  and  hand  it  over  to  reputable 
men  with  no  economic  interest  to  serve  ?  Is  it  not 
also  better  to  apply  the  vast  profits  of  the  business 
which  now  go  to  enrich  a  dangerous  class,  to  corrupt 
politics  and  to  debase  social  life,  to  objects  of  general 
public  utility  and  towards  lessening  the  burdens 
entailed  by  strong  drink  ? 

2.  A  conspicuous  merit  is  the  complete  divorcing  of 
the  liquor  traffic  from  politics.  In  these  countries  the 
elimination  of  the  liquor  element  as  a  political  power 
is  complete.  The  shareholders  in  the  companies  are, 
as  a  rule,  prominent  citizens — in  Gothenburg,  for 
example,  some  of  the  very  best  known — and  this  can 
be  said  of  all  the  larger  communities.  In  none  of 
them  have  shares  become  so  concentrated  that  any- 
thing like  a  particular  interest  could  be  created.  It  is 
true  that  in  some  of  the  smaller  towns  of  Sweden 
minor  abuses  have  not  been  effectually  guarded 
against ;  but,  under  the  stricter  regulations  in  Norway, 
pernicious  methods  of  administration  are  unknown. 
The  employees  who  deal  directly  with  the  practical 
details  of  the  companies'  business  are  simply  paid 
servants,  and  none  of  them,  so  far  as  can  be  learned, 
hold  any  position  whatever  under  the  city  or  local 
governments  or  have  friends  or  backers  therein. 
Charges  of  ring  "  politics  in  connection  with  liquor 
companies  may  be  completely  discounted.  Especially 
in  Norway  is  the  divorce  absolute  and  complete. 

3.  The  company  monopoly  has  been  so  administered 
that  a  general  reduction  of  the  number  of  licenses  has 
been  brought  about  everywhere.  This  means  lessen- 
ing of  temptation   to  drink,     llie   appropriate  facts 


72 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


■ir 

if 


have  already  been  adverted  to  in  the  previous  chapter 
and  need  not  be  reiterated.  Certainly  no  nation  in 
the  world  can  show  such  a  low  ratio  of  licenses  to 
population  as  can  Sweden  and  Norway..  Side  by  side 
with  the  reduction  of  licenses  there  has  been  a  marked 
improvement  in  the  character  of  the  saloons.  The 
sites  chosen  have  been,  as  a  rule,  in  public  places, 
and  they  are  thus  open  to  the  most  rigid  scrutiny.  In 
Sweden,  where  sub-licensing  is  resorted  to,  the  police 
authorities  uniformly  avail  themselves  of  the  right 
afforded  in  the  contracts  made  by  the  companies  with 
sub-licensees,  to  imposeconditions  which  putan  effectual 
stop  to  gambling  or  immoral  practices  in  places  uhere 
liquor  is  sold.  It  is  an  important  advantage  that  the 
companies  are  directly  amenable  to  public  authority 
and  public  opinion  for  the  exercise  of  their  trust. 

4.  A  series  of  efficient  checks  is  interposed  against 
breach  of  trust,  supposing  that  under  the  company 
system  there  may  exist  an  inclination  to  commit  it.  In 
the  first  place,  the  final  decision  concerning  all  matters 
in  Sweden,  for  example,  rests  with  the  governor,  who 
is  an  officer  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  a  man  of 
high  character  and  wide  administrative  knowledge. 
Secondly,  the  licenses  hold  good  only  during  the 
governor's  pleasure.  In  Norway  a  faithless  corpora- 
tion may  be  brought  immediately  to  task  simply  by 
the  threat  of  extinguishing  it.  As  has  been  already 
shown,  this  was  effectually  carried  out  in  the  case  of 
one  company  which  was  inclined  to  place  the  economic 
interests  of  the  municipality  above  the  social  interests 
of  its  inhabitants.  Thirdly,  an  efficient  co-operation  is 
established  between  the  company  and  police  officials. 
Blackmail  and  bribery  under  such  circumstances 
become  an  impossibility.     Fourthly,  the  disposition  of 


TiiE  cuMI'A^^■  system. 


n 


profits,  whether  under  the  Swedish  or  the  Norwegian 
plan,  is  so  provided  for  tliat  fair  dealing  only  can  ensue. 
Fifthly,  the  general  conduct  of  the  business  is  always 
open  to  public  inspection  and  criticism.  The  require- 
ment that  printed  reports  of  the  transactions  of  the 
companies  in  Norway  shall  be  published  every  year  is 
a  salutary  measure.  Sixthly,  the  company  monopoly 
secures  strict  enforcement  of  legal  and  police  regula- 
tions in  relation  to  the  liquor  traffic. 

5.  The  companies  have  in  some  measure  gone 
beyond  legal  requirements  in  the  line  of  public  interest, 
thus  emphasizing  their  desire  to  contribute  to  the 
public  weal.  This  has  been  manifest  particularly  in 
raising  the  age  of  minority  from  fifteen,  where  the  law 
puts  it,  to  eighteen,  as  regards  selling  drink  to  young 
persons,  and  also  in  insisting  upon  immediate  cash  pay- 
ment for  liquors  sold.  They  have  gradually  advanced 
the  price  of  drinks,  at  the  same  time  reducing  their 
alcoholic  contents.  vStringent  regulations  against  loit- 
ering around  the  company's  shops  characterize  Nor- 
wegian prescriptions. 

6.  Early  closing  under  the  company  system  has 
become  a  fixed  practice.  In  Norway  saloons  are 
closed  on  Sundays  ai.d  at  those  periods  of  the  day 
when  the  workin^man  is  most  tempted  to  drink.  It 
is  impossible  for  him  to  spend  his  leisure  moments 
carousing  at  bars  and  thus  be  almost  involuntarily  led 
to  squander  hard-earned  wages.  Nothing  whatever  is 
found  in  Norwegian  saloons  which  invites  to  convivi- 
ality. Generally  there  are  no  seats,  and  the  regula- 
tions, which  personal  observation  leads  me  to  say  are 
strictly  enforced,  are  all  designed  for  the  orderly  con- 
duct of  the  business,  and  render  drinking  to  excess  a 
very  difficult   mattei.     Earlier   closing   than  the  law 


74 


THK  I.IOl'OR   TKAFI'IC. 


required  was  voluntarily  practised  to  a  large  extent 
before  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1894,  This  measure 
oblioes  discontinuance  of  the  sale  of  spirits  from  i 
P.  M.  on  days  before  Sundays  and  holidays  until  8A.M. 
of  the  week-day  following.  Withdrawal  of  the  temp- 
tation to  drink  on  Saturday  afternoons — the  almost 
universal  pay-day — will  '  e  frnr!,/hj  with  great  eco- 
nomic beneiit  to  the  '."agetit  porMon  0/ the  community. 
Public  authorities  may  al  o  ^  *:*  v  rime  limit  business 
hours  still  further  whenever  there  ar<.  'nusual  gather- 
ings of  people. 

7.  Employees  being  paid  fixed  salaries,  fiiir  in 
amount,  and  civil  service  principles  being  established 
in  promotion,  there  is  not  the  same  temptation  to  push 
the  sale  of  drink  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  made  distinctly 
an  object  to  act  otherwise. 

8.  All  taxes  are  paid  under  the  company  system—  a 
merit  which  cannot  be  predicated  of  every  licensing 
regime.  The  charge  has  sometimes  been  made  that 
the  company  system  has  stimulated  municipal  cupidity. 
This  is  groundless.  There  is  a  natural  and  impassable 
limit  to  cupidity  of  this  sort  which,  if  overpassed,  will 
bring  ruin  to  any  community.  Municipal  cupidity 
would  mean  stimulation  of  consumption,  but  the 
statistical  data  quoted  in  the  last  chapter  show  that  ^^r 
capita  consumption  has  notably  diminished  in  both 
Sweden  and  Norway  under  the  company  regime. 
Were  the  municipalities  anxious  to  make  money 
directly  out  of  the  liquor  traffic,  the  excise  tax  on  the 
consumption — which,  in  Sweden,  goes  entirely  to  the 
municipal  treasury,  apart  from  the  profits  of  the  sale 
in  which  the  municipality  has  only  a  share,  and  in 
Norway  went,  until  1894,  to  the  poor  fund,  a  municipal 
burden — would  be  more  liberally  estimated  than  it  is. 


'1-111-.  COMl'ANV  SVSTr.M, 


75 


The  revocation  of  the  charter  of  the  Lanj^esund  com- 
pany furni^he-i  fuiMiei  refutation  of  this  chari;e. 

9.  A  dist'nctive  merit  of  the  Norwegian  plan  is  that 
indiscri  ninate  sub-licensint,  is  unknown.  Such  privi- 
lej^zs  are  granted  only  as  pubhc  interest  may  require, 
and  where  a'^  effectual  control  can  he  exercised  against 
abuse,  in  Sweden,  where  sub-licensing  prevails,  a 
good-sized  fee  is  usually  stipulated.  In  Gothenijurg 
about  $700  per  annum  is  the  average  charge  exacted 
for  a  sub-license. 

10.  The  assistance  rendered  financially  and  iL'r- 
wise  in  promoting  the  cause  of  temperance,  'm  N  - 
way  a  moderate  sum  is  annually  expended  i^  .  ubsi- 
dizing  temperance  societie:>.  Under  the  new  1«  v  this 
will  be  largely  increased.  In  several  localir'  vs,  partic- 
ularly in  Norway,  cordial  co-operation  exisu  tetween 
agencies  for  the  spread  of  teetotalism  and  the  com- 
panies. 

11.  The  attitude  of  the  temperance  party  is  particu- 
larly important.  Were  the  companies  not  succeeding 
in  their  avowed  aim  and  accomplishing  successfully 
the  huge  task  of  restricting  the  evils  of  the  traffic,  total 
abstainers  would  become  their  most  e-irnest  opponents. 
On  the  contrary,  while  they  do  not  desire  the  system 
as  a  permanency,  it  is  equally  true  that  all  of  the  more 
intelligent  abstainers  regard  it  as  a  salutary  agency  of 
progressive  reform.  There  are  30  total  abstainers 
amongst  the  238  members  of  the  Lower  House  of  the 
Swedish  Parliament.  These,  with  40  others,  have 
voted  in  favor  of  a  prohibitory  regime,  but  they  have 
never  officially  clamored  for  the  abolition  of  the  exist- 
ing system.  The  leader  of  the  prohibition  party  in 
the  Lower  House,  and  probably  the  most  pronounced 
temperance  man  in  Sweden,  in  a  letter  to  me,  made  use 


I 


70 


llll'.    ','<;'.()K   'I'RAI'l'lC. 


I 'I 


of  these  significant  words  :  "  As  to  my  personal  view  of 
the  results  of  the  Gothenburg  system,  I  will  merely 
add  that  with  all  its  defects,  it  is  vastly  preferable  to 
free  trade  in  liquors,  or  to  the  ordinary  licensing  sys- 
tem." Dr.  Wieselgren,  President  of  the  Swedish 
Temperance  Society,  is  the  most  doughty  champion 
of  the  plan.  In  Norway,  Mr.  H.  E.  Berner,  of  Chris- 
tiania,  is  not  only  the  best  authority  on  the  company 
system,  but  also  one  of  its  most  ardent  exponents.  He 
is  the  authority  for  saying  that  '*  a  great  mass  of 
abstainers  have  vigorously  united  in  supporting  a 
proposition  recently  formulated  by  a  royal  commis- 
sion, which  does  not  advocate  abolishing  the  compa- 
nies, but  would  grant  them  a  complete  monoply  of  all 
sales  of  spirits."  He  also  says  that  "  the  regulations 
of  the  companies  must  be  regarded  as  having  worked 
successfully,  and  contributed  greatly  to  restrict  drunk- 
enness, while  the  profits  have  generally  been  devoted 
to  the  promotion  of  enlightenment,  morality,  and 
proper  social  spirit."  Much  capital  has  been  made  out 
of  the  passage  of  a  resolution  at  the  annual  session  of 
the  Norwegian  Grand  Lodge  of  Good  Templars  in 
1893  which  was  unfavorable  to  the  company  system. 
The  fact  has  since  transpired  that  this  slipped  through 
without  the  full  knowledge  of  the  meeting,  an.:'  the 
committee  on  resolutions  has  since  refused  to  acknowl- 
edge it. 

Mr,  Lars  O.  Jensen,  who  is  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent members  of  the  order,  and  at  present  Right 
Worthy  Grand  Templar  for  Norway,  the  representa- 
tive of  the  society  to  the  recent  International  Alcoholic 
Congress  at  the  Hague,  and  the  editor  for  Norway  of  the 
"  Internationale  Monatschrift,"  thus  writes  (his  letter  is 
in  my  possession)  concerning  the  maiier  in  question: 


!h 


rni:  c(jmi'anv  system. 


77 


*'  This  resolution  is  now,  I  think,  j^enerally  considered 
a  mistake,  even  among  the  Oood  Templars  tlieniselves. 
An  old  temperance  man  who  is  very  much  opposed  to 
the  company  system  sent  a  letter  to  the  meeting  ask- 
ing it  to  adopt  the  said  resolution,  which  it  did.  The 
resolution  condemned  the  system  in  that  it  declared 
that  it  had  failed  to  materially  decrease  the  consump- 
'■inn  of  alcoholic  liquors.  This  same  old  gentleman 
wrote  to  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Norwegian  Total 
Abstinence  Society  and  the  Blue  Ribbon  Army,  but 
at  these  meetings  no  such  resolution  was  carried.  As  to 
the  attitude  of  the  representative  temperance  men,  I 
refer  you  to  my  paper  read  before  the  International 
Alcoholic  Congress  at  the  Hague  in  1890.  I  do  think 
that  they  almost  unanimously  favor  the  company 
system  as  against  individual  licensing,  and  in  this  very 
year  (1894)  they  have  done  their  utmost  to  have  the 
company  system  more  fully  carried  out  through  the 
law  just  passed  by  Parliament."  Mr.  Sven  Aarres- 
tad,  a  member  of  the  Norwegian  Parliament  and 
editor  of  the  official  organ  of  the  Norwegian  Total 
Abstinence  Society,  has  also  shown  his  good  feeling 
by  assisting  Mr.  Berner  in  passing  the  new  amend- 
ments to  the  Norwegian  law  which  will  enable  the 
companies  to  operate  more  effectively.  The  attitude 
of  such  influential  spokesmen  of  the  temperance 
parties  of  Sweden  and  Norway  will  be  deemed  by  any 
rational  man  as  fairly  conclusive  test-ni'-ny.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  total  abstaintio  are  completely 
satisfied  with  the  plan.  They  believe,  however,  that  it 
is  the  best  means  of  progressive  advance,  and  their 
eftbrts  are  directed  to  reforms  in  matters  of  detail 
rather  than  to  changing  the  principle.  They  believe 
that  the  educational  influence  of  the  regime  will,  in  the 


7« 


Tin:    f.lorOK    IKAI'I'IC. 


I  ; 


course  of  time,  make  prohibition  a  possibility.  Messrs. 
Berner  and  Aarrestad,  particularly,  are  positive  in 
their  statements  that  the  company  system  is  not  a  hin- 
drance, but  a  help  to  ultimate  prohibition.  Mr.  Herner 
writes,  "  This  view  seems  also  to  be  acknowledged  by 
the  Norwej^ian  Total  Abstinence  Society  with  its 
100,000  members,  for  at  its  great  annual  meeting  at 
Christiania  last  August  the  warmest  thanks  were 
officially  voted  to  Mr.  Aarrestad  and  mysf^lf  for  having 
done  our  best  in  passing  the  new  law  to  more  fully 
carry  out  the  company  system."  The  present  efforts 
of  the  Scandinavian  temperance  parties  are  directed 
particularly  towards  divorcing  the  sale  of  beer  from 
that  of  all  other  merchandise,  extending  the  company 
monopoly  to  cover  fermented  as  well  as  spirituous  bev- 
erages, and  changing  the  law  so  that  after  a  certain 
number  of  years  it  will  be  illegal  to  sell  any  drink  con- 
taining more  than  25  percent,  of  alcohol. 

12,  The  highest  police  and  administrative  officials, 
as  well  as  foreign  and  consular  diplomatic  reprefcentci- 
tives,  have  almost  unanimously  testified  in  favor  of  the 
company  system.  The  former  characterize  the  differ- 
ence between  the  individual  licensing  plan  of  previous 
years  and  the  present  regime  as  "  the  ciiffereace 
between  night  and  day."  The  one  noteworthy  excep- 
tion to  the  favorable  views  of  consular  officers  is  found 
in  the  superficial  and  misleading  report  of  Mr.  T. 
Mitchell,  the  British  Consul-General  at  Christiania. 
This  report  precipitated  an  event  which  speaks  vol- 
umes for  favorable  public  opinion  in  Norway.  The 
press  teemed  with  protests,  and  Mr.  Berner  was 
requested  by  the  Norwegian  Minister  for  Home  Affairs 
to  prepare  an  official  answer,  which  was  later  trans- 
mitted to  the   British   Foreign  Office.     Mr.  Berner's 


TIIK  COMI'AW   s\.sri:M. 


79 


reply  is  coiiiplt.'te,  and  eltcctiially  (lls})()ses  of  tlic  ^ros-s 
misrepresentation  ot  facts  whicli  Mr.  Mitcliell's  rt  port 
contained.  The  Minister  for  Home  Atfairs  liimself 
forwarded  a  letter  of  denial  to  Councillor  U.  M. 
Stevenson,  of  Glasgow,  wliicii  was  published  in  the 
//«?/'«/(/ of  that  city  under  the  date  of  April  25th  1893. 
No  further  notice,  1  think,  nt-ed  be  accorded  Mr. 
Mitchell's  misleading  report,  except  to  remark  that 
when  a  document  is  officially  repudiated  directly  by 
one  government  and  indirectly  by  another,  in  addi- 
tion to  being  protested  against  by  the  writer's  resident 
compatriots,  it  is  high  time  that  all  who  prize  fairness 
and  uprightness  in  controversy  should  cease  quoting  it. 
13.  An  undeniably  strong  evidence  of  the  efficiency 
of  the  Scandinavian  method  of  controlling  the  liquor 
traffic  is,  that  no  single  community  which  has  ev(  r 
fried  it  has  afterwards  abandoned  it.  An  attempt  has 
been  made  by  unfriendly  critics  to  turn  this  argument 
into  an  admission  that  the  system  once  introduced 
cannot  be  gotten  rid  of  or  replaced  by  anything  better. 
This  is  a  gross  perversion  of  facts.  The  system 
remains  because  communities  have  found  it  such  a 
vast  improvement  on  the  old  individual  licensing  plan. 
Publicly  expressed  approval  of  leading  temperance 
reformers,  indeed  of  all  intelligent  classes,  as  has  been 
already  shown,  amply  proves  our  contention.  It  is 
certainly  a  open  question  whether  local  prohibition 
under  a  locai  option  system  as  we  understand  it  would 
do  better  in  any  of  the  larger  communities  of  Scandi- 
navia, given  existing  views  and  contemporary  social 
conditions;  but  the  tiew  law  of  Norway — which  for  th^^ 
first  time  in  Scandinavia  gives  adults  over  25  years  o( 
age,  including  women,  the  right  to  vote  directly  on 
the  question  of  license — will  soon  answer  the  hypo- 
thetical objection  raised. 


<So 


THE   LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


14.  Under  the  new  Norwe^^ian  law  of  1894  the  pen- 
alties for  drunkenness  have  been  increased.  Hitherto 
there  has  been  great  diversity  in  local  regulations 
dealing  with  the  offense.  At  present  it  looks  as  if 
wiser  social  policy  in  relation  to  the  victims  of  drink  is 
about  to  be  inaugurated  in  Norway  than  exists  any- 
where else.  A  royal  commission  on  the  reform  of  the 
penal  law  has  drafted  a  new  general  measure  on  intoxi- 
cation, features  of  v/hich  will  be  compulsory  isolation 
of  habitual  drunkards  in  special  institutions,  and  per- 
mitting the  appointment  of  administrators  on  their 
property  as  in  the  case  of  the  insane. 

There  are  certain  disadvantages,  arising  chiefly  from 
defects  in  the  law,  not  from  maladministration.  For 
these  the  companies  are  in  nowise  responsible. 

1.  The  company  mont  poly  does  not  extend  far 
enough.  In  order  to  achieve  a  maximum  of  benefit, 
fern^ented  beverages  must  also  be  included.  As  has 
already  been  pointed  out  in  the  discussion  of  the 
causes  of  drunkenness  during  recent  years,  one  effect 
of  restraining  spirit-drinking  has  been  greater  con- 
sumption of  beer.  This  is  all  the  more  serious  since 
women  drink  it  to  a  considerable  extent,  whereas  only 
rarely  are  they  consumers  of  spirits.  Beer,  too,  is 
brewed  much  stronger  than  formerly.  Lack  of  control 
over  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  beer  is  a  serious 
drawback.  Fortunately,  this  is  so  generall}'  recog- 
nized that  we  may  expect  an  early  change  of  policy 
in  both  Sweden  and  Norway. 

2.  A  second  legal  defect  is  that,  at  present,  the  bottle 
trade  in  wine  and  beer  in  tov/ns  and  country  distri'tj 
is  conducted  in  connection  with  general  business  and 
without  special  license.  This  privilege  is  bound  soon 
to  be  abrogated.     It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the 


THE  COMPANY  SYSTEM. 


8l 


companies  that  more  than  half  of  them  in  Norway  have 
acquired  control  of  the  bar  trade  in  beer.  They  liave 
done  this  voluntarily  and  at  considerable  financial 
loss.  The  present  law  does  not  permit  companies  to 
monopolize  more  than  the  bar  trade. 

3.  A  serious  delect  in  Norwegian  practice  until  the 
law  of  1894  was  that  the  limit  of  wholesale  sales  was 
fixed  far  too  low.  Swedish  policy  \v  this  regard  has 
been  much  better.  Norwegian  statistics  show  that 
about  three-fifths  of  all  the  liquors  sold  in  that  country 
have  been  presumably  for  home  consumption.  The 
limit  (ioJ^2  gallons)  was  sufficiently  low  to  permit 
grocers  to  sell  spirits  to  their  customers  at  a  minimum 
figure,  and  cheaper  than  the  companies'  rates.  They 
could  do  this  because  only  a  general  business  license 
was  required  to  dispose  of  spirits  at  wholesale.  Spirits 
sold  in  this  way  were  exempt  from  the  regular  muni- 
cipal tax  of  about  14  cents  per  gallon.  Wholesale 
sales  also  represented  consumption  in  country  districts 
where  prohibition  prevails.  People  there  clubbed 
together  and  purchased  casks  of  ioj4  gallons.  Divid- 
ing the  contents  was  not  illegal  provided  the  money 
was  collected  before  the  liquor  was  bought. 

The  law  of  1894  makes  many  beneficent  changes. 
The  wholesale  minimum  is  raised  to  66  gallons  as  in 
vSvveden.  Further  concessions  of  wholesale  privileges 
to  distillers  and  to  regular  business  firms  are  debarred, 
and  those  already  possessing  them  are  obliged  to  pay  a 
largely  enhanced  and  progressively  advancing  tax, 
calculated  in  the  near  future  to  reach  double  the 
present  proportions.  Disposal  of  spirits  by  grocers 
and  other  business  firms  is  also  checked.  There  can 
henceforth  be  no  division  of  the  contents  of  a  barrel 
among   several  customers  on  the  spot,  because  the 


82 


THE    LIOUOR    TRAI'-I'IC. 


whole  quantity — 66  gallons  as  a  minimum — must  be 
delivered  in  one  cask  to  a  single  buyer  and  none  of  it 
may  be  consumed  on  the  premises.  The  size  of  the 
amount  required  to  make  the  lowest  wholesale  pur- 
chase— $84 — will  materially  prevent  evasions  of  the 
intent  of  the  law. 

The  new  law  is  the  outcome  of  the  labors  of  a  royal 
commission  appointed  in  1888.  Partisans  of  the  exist- 
ing system,  no  less  than  advanced  temperance  advo- 
cates, have  cordially  worked  to  secure  wise  modifica- 
tions. The  potent  influence  exercised  by  the  companies 
in  favor  ot  reform  is  a  significant  testimony  to  their 
sense  of  moral  guardianship  of  public  interests. 

4.  Defects  in  the  Swedish  as  distinguished  from  the 
Norwegian  method  may  be  summarized  as  follows  : 

(a)  Less  perfect  governmental  supervision  over  the 
business  of  the  companies  than  exists  in  Norwa> — a 
fact  which  is  responsible  for  neglect  of  public  interests 
in  a  few  places,  chiefly  smaller  towns. 

(d)  Permitting  the  sale  of  beer  and  spirits  on  the 
same  premises,  .^nd  in  general  allowing  employees  to 
reap  pecuniary  benefits  from  the  former. 

(^)  Permitting,  even  under  existing  restrictions,  the 
sale  of  spirits  on  Sundays  and  holidays. 

5.  A  drawback  which  rarely  appears,  but  which 
fairness  compels  me  to  mention,  is  that  in  a  few 
instances  the  question  of  profits  has  been  made  unde- 
niably conspicuous.  These  are  indeed  notable  excep- 
tions to  the  well-nigh  universal  rule.  Attention  is 
called  to  their  existence  in  order  to  make  more  appar- 
ent the  contrast.  The  danger  can  be  easily  averted 
by  arranging  for  a  strong  system  of  central  supervi- 
sion. It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  alertness  of  temperance 
sentiment  in  England  and  the  United   Stales  would 


THE  COMPANY   SYSTEM. 


8-. 


not  permit  of  the  smallest  evil  of  this  sort.  A  triennial 
referendum,  as  proposed  in  the  i^.Iassachusetts  bill, 
would  keep  every  company  up  to  its  professions. 

Certain  radical  temperance  reformers,  not  satisfied 
with  evolutionary  advance,  express  the  fear  that  the 
company  system  may  please  too  well  and  that  it  may 
become  a  permanency.  Such  people  should  re-read 
the  fable  of  che  dog-  with  a  bone  who  saw  his  shadow 
in  the  stream.  We  have  seen  already  that  Messrs. 
Berner,  Aarrestad  and  other  temperance  leaders 
regard  the  Scandinavian  method  as  i.he  precursor  to 
something  better  still  when  society  shall  have  been 
fitted  to  receive  it.*  So  also  do  all  well-informed 
persons,  no  matter  of  what  shade  of  opinion,  reject  the 
notion  that  liquor-selling  has  been  made  more  respect- 
able under  the  company  regime.  Individual  testimony 
is  peculiarly  positive  on  this  point,  and  besides,  numer- 
ous evidences  exist  in  support  of  the  view.  One  alone 
need  be  cited,  as  in  itself  it  is  fairly  conclusive.  It 
refers  to  decline  in  the  bar-trade.  In  Gothenburg  the 
quantity  of  spirits  sold  over  the  bar  in  1874  represented 
a  consumption  of  11.3  quarts  per  head  of  population ; 
in  1892  it  was  5.1  quarts,  considerably  less  than  half. 
In  Stockholm  the  appropriate  figures  are  14.61  quarts 
during  the  first  year  of  the  company's  operations,  and 
6.49  quarts  for  1892.  In  the  Norwegian  cities  of 
Bergen  and  Christianssand  the  same  phenomena  are 
apparent.  The  record  for  the  former  in  1877  was  2.5 
quarts  per  inhabitant  ;  in  1892  1.7  quarts.  P'or  the 
latter    1.34    quarts    in    1872,    and    0.63  quart   twenty 


*See,  in  this  connection,  the  Rev.  D.  N.  Eeacli's  account  of 
an  interview  with  Mr.  IJerner  in  August,  1S94,  given  in  an 
article,  "The  Norwegian  System  in  its  Home,"  in  The  Ne^u 
England  Magazine  for  February,  1895. 


84 


Till':   r.IOUOR  TRAFFIC. 


years  later.     Returns  from  smaller  towns  in  the  two 
countries  teach  the  same  lesson. 

The  late  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Wilson,  whose  35  years  of 
residence  in  Norway  entitled  him  to  speak  authorita- 
tively, said,  "  No  persons  of  the  better  class  would 
dream  of  goin^^  into  a  company's  bar,  and  the  respect- 
able working  class,  desirous  of  maintaining  their  posi- 
tion, avoid  them  like  poison.  The  fact  that  customers 
are  subjected  to  control  and  may  be  refused  supply  at 
the  discretion  of  the  barkeeper,  has  stamped  the  com- 
pany's bars,  in  the  opinion  of  all  classes,  as  something 
of  a  reformatory  nature,  and  they  are  avoided  by  all 
with  any  pretensions  to  respectability  and  self-respect." 
Dr.  Wieselgren  is  equally  positive,  averring  that  when 
one  meets  with  the  assertion  that  the  Scandinavian 
method  has  made  liquor-drinking  respectable,  one 
may  safely  reply  that  "  suci.  has  not  been  the  case  in 
Sweden  and  Norway  :  the  possibility  of  it  is  to  us  an 
incomprehensible  suggestion."  The  chief  of  the 
Good  Templars  of  Norway,  Mr.  Lars  O.  Jensen,  says: 
*'  When  the  Gothenburg  system  was  introduced  it  was 
feared  that  this  system  would  throw  an  air  of  respect- 
ability about  the  drinking  customs.  This  has  not 
been  so.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  regarded  as  a  far 
greater  shame  to  enter  a  company  shop  than  to  enter 
an  ordinary  drink-shop." 

Reduced  drinking  at  the  bar  has  not  been  accom- 
panied with  increased  consumption  at  home.  The 
figures  for  retail  sale  show  also  a  decline,  though  not 
in  the  iiAniC  proportion. 

The  pith  ot  the  w  hole  matter  resides  here.  In  the 
present  stag':  of  r.ocial  developi/ent  no  system  can  be 
devised  v^h,,'};  will  conpletely  eradicate  the  evils  to 
which   tlte   d-'ink-tratific    neces-sarily   gives   rise  ;    but 


rill-:  COMPANY'  s^'STI•:M. 


S: 


wherever  spirits  are  allowed  to  be  inanufactiired  and 
sold,  the  Scandinavian  method  of  control  is  the  only 
practical  one  to  adopt.  The  justice  of  this  assertion  is 
made  clear  by  reference  to  the  experience  of  the 
United  States,  which  has  been  a  peculiarly  fertile  field 
of  experiinent.  This  experience  I  have  fully  related 
in  the  Forum  for  November,  1894,  and  its  salient 
features  are  here  reproduced. 

In  seven  American  commonwealths  what  is  known 
as  prohibition  is  the  prevailing  form  of  control.  This 
term  indicates  'withdrawing  the  ri^ht  to  manufacture 
and  sell  spirituous  and  malt  beverages  from  domiciled 
residents  within  the  borders.  In  ihe  sense  in  which  it 
is  incorporated  in  American  practice,  further  regulation 
of  individual  conduct  is  not  attempted.  A  man  may 
buy  liquor  in  another  State  and  have  k  shij)ped  to 
him,  provided  it  is  destined  for  his  own  [.rivaf^  use. 
StUl  more,  he  may  purchase  it  surreptitiously  from  a 
fellow-resident  without  rendering  l.imself  li.' ble  to 
punishment.  It  is  the  manufacturer  and  the  seller,  not 
the  consumer  of  drink,  who  are  placed  under  the  ban. 
Prohibition  is  now  the  law  of  seven  States — ?  aine, 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Iowa,  Kansas,  orth 
Dakota  and  South  Dakota.  Four  of  these—  iaine, 
Kansas, and  thetwo  Dakotas  — have  prohibition  amend- 
ments to  their  constitutions.  Prohibition  h  -  been 
enacted  and  afterward  abandoned  in  Delaw;''  c  Rhode 
Island,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Indiana,  xt  braska, 
New  York,  Illinois  and  Ohio. 

All  the  States  in  which  prohi'/itory  legislation  obtains 
to-day  are  relatively  sparsely  populated.  The  largest 
urban  community  in  any  of  them  is  the  citv  of  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  which  contains  50,093  people,  a.  ^Jrding 
to  the  last  census.     But  it  is  in  large  cities  where  the 


S6 


TFIE   LIOUOR  TRAFFIC. 


liquor  traffic  is  hardest  to  control.  Therefore  it 
seems  perfectly  fair  to  make  answer  to  the  friends  of- 
prohibition,  that  the  soundness  of  their  views  has  not 
been  rendered  sufficiently  apparent  from  practical 
experiments.  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  York, 
Illinois  and  Ohio  are  States  containing-  large  city  popu- 
lations, and  these  have  abandoned  legal  prohibition. 

The  chief  difficulty  with  all  Restrictive  measures 
directed  against  social  vices  is  to  secure  their  enforce- 
ment— or,  indeed,  their  moderate  obj^ervance — in 
urban  centres.  People  should  take  account  of  this, 
remembering  that  virtue  can  never  be  inculcated  by 
legal  enactment.  Its  springs  are  in  the  human  heart, 
and  before  they  will  flow  they  must  be  struck  with  the 
rod  of  a  quickened  intelligence.  Marching  too  far  in 
advance  of  public  sentiment  always  renders  success 
problematical.  Depositing  the  ballot  is  too  often 
accompanied  on  our  part  by  a  thrill  of  satisfaction  that 
duty  has  been  done,  whereas  it  should  be  understood 
as  having  been  only  just  begun.  We  should  reflect 
that  a  majority  vote  for  prohibition  establishes  a  new 
legal  misdemeanor,  and  that  unless  there  is  hearty  and 
effective  co-operation  to  secure  enforcement,  dam- 
age is  more  likely  to  be  done  than  good  accomplished. 
Disrespect  for  law  is  the  most  dangerous  of  all  things 
under  a  democratic  form  of  government ;  and  those 
who  assist  in  making  laws  which  for  one  reason  or 
another  cannot  be  enforced,  assume  weighty  respon- 
sibilities. 

The  control  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  a  moral  and  social 
question  and  has  no  place  in  the  arena  of  politics.  It 
is  greatly  to  be  feared  that  making  prohibition  a 
political  issue  has  compelled  the  liquor  interests  to 
seek   political   means  of  defense.     But  whatever  the 


THE  COMPAXV  SYSTEM. 


87 


cause,  the  result  has  been  an  alhance  with  the  domi- 
nant party,  or  tlie  lower  elements  of  both  political 
parties,  which  has  dej^^raded  American  politics  to  the 
lowest  depths,. 

Another  favorite  American  method  <A'  dealing  with 
the  liquor  traffic  has  been  through  local  option.  This, 
by  many,  is  called  prohibition  in  its  more  rational 
form.  The  advantages  claimed  are  that  the  limited 
area  to  which  it  applies  renders  its  introduction  easier. 
There  is  not  only  a  strong  local  feeling  behind  it,  but 
concentration  of  attention  upon  a  limited  territory  with 
a  greater  likelihood  of  rigorous  enforcement.  Again, 
the  movement  advances  slowly,  and  ground  once 
gained  rarely  has  to  be  surrendered.  Local  option 
represents  evolutionary  advance,  whereas  prohibition 
is  cataclysmic. 

Opponents  of  local  option  enumerate  aujongst  its 
drawbacks — 

1.  That  drinking  is  made  a  local  question,  whereas 
it  ought  to  be  considered  from  a  national  point  of 
view. 

2.  The  ethical  basis  of  the  problem  is  lowered  to 
that  of  mere  expediency. 

3.  It  has  only  been  successful  in  practice  in  country 
districts,  and  then  at  the  expense  of  adjoining  neigh- 
borhoods. 

Local  option  has  been  tried  in  several  States.  Better 
results  seem  to  have  been  achieved  in  Massachusetts 
than  elsewhere.  In  several  of  the  Southern  States,  also, 
a  feeling  of  satisfaction  with  its  operation  has  been 
expressed,  though  generally  the  areas  to  which  it  has 
been  confined  are  almost  exclusively  country  districts. 
The  experiences  of  Michigan  and  Missouri  give  a 
reverse  side  to  the  picture.     In  the  former  common- 


88 


TtIF,  IJOUOK  TKAM-IC. 


wealth  an  important  contention  of  critics  seems  to  have 
been  jnstitiecl.  The  ratio  ot'  licenses  lo  population  in 
areas  not  uiider  local  option  increased  during  the  last 
census-period  8  per  cent. 

Hi^h  license  is  the  method  most  in  favor  for  large 
cities  where  restrictive  measures  have  been  i/ractised 
at  all.  Advocates  claim  that  it  is  the  only  effective 
forn  of  control  as  demonstrated  by  experience.  It 
may  be  applied  to  places  where  prohibition  ai\d  local 
option  would  both  fail,  and  it  reduces  4ie  nun.ber  of 
public-houses  within  measurable  limits,  both  as  to 
number  and  geographical  situation. 

It  is  true  that,  where  a  really  high-license  fee  has 
been  charged,  dram-shops  have  notably  decreai<ed. 
I ci  Omaha,  in  1881,  the  license  fee  was  raised  from 
$100  ir  ^looo.  At  tkat  time  the  ratio  of  licenses  to 
population  was  i  to  267.  In  1891  it  was  i  to  600 
The  experience  of  St.  Paul  is  almost  equally  signifi- 
cant. During  the  six  years  from  1886  to  1892,  when 
a  similar  change  -ok  place,  the  ratio  of  licenses  to 
population  declined  from  i  to  152  to  i  for  368.  In 
Philadelphia  results  have  been  even  more  remarkable. 
Previous  to  the  enactment  of  the  Brooks  law  in  1888 
there  was  i  license  to  every  160  inhabitants.  In  1891 
the  proportion  was  i  to  600.  This  favorable  statistical 
showmg,  be  it  noted,  applies  to  three  States  where  the 
license  fee  is  fixed  at  $1000.  Other  high-license  cities 
require  only  $500,  and  it  is  undeniably  true  that  no  such 
conspicuously  useful  results  have  there  been  attained. 
There  seems  to  be  somewhere  a  normal  limit  of 
efficiency,  and  whenever  the  sum  charged  is  below  the 
line  the  useful  effects  of  control  are  lessened. 

Perhaps  the  most  effective  form  of  high-license  pre- 
vails in  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts.  To  my  mind 


Till'    ((t.MPANV  SYSTEM. 


89 


there  are  two  reasons  lor  this.  In  the  tirst-named 
State,  while  the  number  of  permits  is  not  hniited  by 
law,  complete  discretion  is  vested  in  the  licensinj^  com- 
mission, which  is  constituted  of  jud,L;;es  in  courts  of 
secondary  instance.  Massachusetts  has  recoiuse  to 
limitation,  Boston  bein^  allowed  i  license  to  every  500 
of  population,  and  every  other  city  or  town  i  license  to 
every  1000  persons.  Legal  limitation  of  number,  and 
especially  a  high-class  commission  of  judges,  are 
features  which  should  accompany  every  high-license 
regime. 

Opponents  of  this  plan  dispute  the  fact  that  it  has 
been  much  of  a  success  anywhere.  They  assert  that 
it  forges  more  closely  the  alliance  between  liquor 
and  politics.  Licensing  boards  have  usually  a  distinct 
political  element  in  their  composition,  so  that  in  the 
distribution  of  privileges  political  bummers  may  be 
properly  looked  after.  Furthermore,  it  is  alleged  that 
consolidation  of  liquor  interests  more  readily  occurs 
and  "tied  houses"  become  substitutes  for  individual 
taprooms.  Finally,  those  who  take  the  high  ground 
that  license  fees  represent  blood-mone}^  so  to  speak, 
contend  that  enhanced  revenues  are  a  salve  to  the  con- 
science of  the  weak-kneed  brother  and  lessen  his  prac- 
tical interest  in  the  suppression  of  liquor-drinking. 

The  latest  form  of  experiment  is  that  inaugurated 
by  South  Carolina  under  the  law  ot  December  24, 1892. 
The  constitutionality  of  this  measure  has  recently 
been  affirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State. 
Private  liquor-selling  is  abolished,  and  a  State  dispen- 
sary system  substit'ited.  At  least  one  of  these  dispensa- 
ries is  opened  in  e\t?ry  county  not  under  local  option, 
and  in  the  cities  ot  Charleston  and  Columbia  more  are 
provided  for.  A  State  bo-ird  of  control,  composed  of  the 


go 


Tin:  i.ioroK    TKAII-IC. 


governor,  comptroller-general,  and  attorney-general, 
is  the  highest  business  authority.  A  State  commis- 
sioner, who  is  believed  to  be  an  abstainer,  is  appointed 
by  this  body,  as  well  as  county  boards  of  control, 
whicli  are  composed  of  three  members  serving  for  two 
years,  and  who  are  likewise  teetotallers.  Dispensaries 
are  opened  by  the  county  boards  of  control  upon 
motion  of  a  majority  of  freehold  voters.  The  State 
commissioner  purchases  the  licpiors  (under  a  saving 
political  clause  which  gives  preference  to  manufacturers 
and  brewers  doing  business  in  the  State),  and  the 
State  chemist  analyses  the  beverages  to  see  if  they 
are  pure.  They  are  then  done  up  in  packages  vary- 
ing from  five  gallons  to  one  half-pint  in  size,  shipped 
to  the  county  dispensaries,  and  sold  at  prices  not 
exceeding  50  per  cent  profit.  Considerable  formality 
is  required  in  the  purchase  of  drink.  The  dispenser 
must  demand  of  his  would-be  client  a  written  or 
printed  request,  properly  dated,  stating  the  age  and 
residence  of  the  signer  for  whose  use  the  liquor  is 
requested,  as  well  as  the  quantity  and  kind  required. 
The  certificate  is  then  attested  and  put  on  file. 

At  first  glance  one  would  think  that  a  law  which 
lengthened  the  time  between  drinks  would  not  be  very 
popular  with  a  South  Carolina  governor.  The  present 
incumbent,  however,  in  his  last  annual  message,  urges 
the  following  claims  in  support  of  his  dispensaiy 
system : 

"  I.  The  element  of  personal  profit  is  destroyed, 
thereb)'  removing  the  incentive  to  increased  sales. 

"  2.  A  pure  article  is  guaranteed,  and  it  is  subject 
to  chemical  analysis. 

"  3.  The  consumer  obtains  honest  measure  of  stand- 
ard streny  til. 


THK  COMPANY  SVSTKM. 


9T 


(( 


4.  Treatinii^^  is  stopped,  as  the  bottles  are  not 
opened  on  the  premises. 

"  5.   It  is  sold  only  in  the  daytime. 

"6.  The  concomitants  of  ice,  sut^ar,  lemons,  etc., 
being  removed,  there  is  not  the  same  inclination  to 
drink  remaining.  The  closing  ot*  the  pul)lic  house, 
especially  at  night,  and  the  prohibition  of  sale  by  the 
drink,  destroy  the  inducements  and  seductions  which 
have  caused  so  many  men  and  boys  to  be  led  astray 
and  enter  on  the  downward  course. 

"7.  It  is  sold  only  for  cash,  and  there  is  no  longer 
chalking  up  for  daily  drinks  against  pay-day.  The 
workingman  buys  his  bottle  of  whiskey  on  Saturday 
night,  and  carries  the  rest  of  his  wages  home. 

"  8.  The  local  whiskey-rings,  which  have  been  a 
curse  to  every  municipality  in  the  State,  and  have 
always  controlled  municipal  elections,  have  been  torn 
up  root  and  branch,  and  the  influence  of  the  barkeeper 
as  a  political  manipulator  is  absolutely  destroyed. 
The  police,  removed  from  the  control  of  this  debauch- 
ing element,  will  enforce  the  law  against  evildoing 
with  more  vigor,  and  a  higher  tone  and  greater  purity 
in  all  governmental  affairs  must  result." 

Were  the  history  of  this  unique  measure  not  so  well 
known,  the  contentions  of  Governor  Tillman  might  be 
more  generally  accepted.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  plan 
had  its  origin  in  an  effort  to  raise  revenue,  not  in  a  virtu- 
ous desire  to  reduce  the  consumption  of  drink.  Pro- 
hibitionists were  cajoled  into  its  support  by  promises 
that  the  coming  enactment  would  be  a  stepping-stone 
to  their  ideal.  It  is  much  to  be  feared  that  the  local 
whiskey-rings  which  the  governor  denounces  ma\  give 
place  to  a  State  politico-liquor  machine.  The  claim 
that  the  consumer  will  obtain  an  honest  measure  of 


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Hiotographic 

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Corporation 


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92 


THE  LIQUOR  TKArFIC. 


Ci  i 

li 


di'nk,  standard  in  strength  and  quality,  may  have 
local  grounds  for  favor,  but  one  can  hardly  accept  it 
as  possessing  great  moral  weight.  Taking  away  from 
the  tippler  his  ice,  his  lemons  and  his  sugar  may  be 
a  hardship ;  but  it  is  not  a  positively  reformatory 
measure — the  shadow  departs,  but  the  substance 
remains.  But  selling  only  in  the  daytime  and  for  cash, 
the  abolition  of  treating,  weeding-out  gambling-dens 
and  other  immoral  concomitants  of  the  saloon,  are 
undoubted  advantages. 

In  the  minds  of  many  people  there  has  been  an  absurd 
confounding  of  this  South  Carolina  experiment  with 
the  Scandinavian  system  of  controlling  the  liquor 
traffic.  Points  of  similarity  do  exist,  but  modes  of 
operation  and  effects  are  quite  different.  The  cardinal 
principle  of  the  South  Carolina  plan  is  State  monopoly 
of  all  sale  of  drink ;  that  of  the  Norwegian  is  local  con- 
trol through  commercial  companies,  organized  often 
by  the  best  and  most  patriotic  citizens,  who  renounce 
all  profits  and  take  merely  the  ordinary  rate  of  interest 
on  the  small  amount  of  capital  invested.  Wherein 
both  of  the  plans  agree,  and  where  both,  in  my  judg- 
ment, strike  at  the  root  of  the  whole  matter,  is  in 
eliminating  private  profit  from  liquor-selling.  But  here 
the  parallel  almost  ceases.  The  local  companies  in 
Norway  engage  in  the  traffic  in  order  that  they  may 
control  it  and  restrict  it  until  such  time  as  municipalities 
may  do  away  with  1  icensing  for  liquor-selling  altogether. 
So  well  has  their  aim  succeeded  that  the  vast  majority 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Scandinavian  peninsula  are 
today  under  a  "  no-license"  regime.  In  South  Caro- 
lina the  profits  go  to  the  State,  and  the  very  concep- 
tion of  the  measure  reposes  on  the  idea  of  relief  to 
taxpayers.     Indeed,  Governor  Tillman  apologetically 


THE  COMPANY  SYSTEM. 


93 


remarks  that  the  revenues  are  not  yet  as  high  as  they 
will  be.  A  State  monopoly  makes  liquor-selling  a 
part  of  the  machinery  of  the  government,  and  there- 
fore gives  to  it  a  more  or  less  permanent  existence. 
The  essence  of  the  other  plan  is  liberty  to  abolish  the 
traffic  whenever  a  community  is  ready,  but,  in  the 
meantime,  to  regulate  it  so  that  the  least  possible 
damage  may  be  done.  Another  most  significant  dif- 
ference between  the  two  systems  is  that  State  dispen- 
saries involve  regulation  of  the  traffic  by  political 
appointees.  In  Norway  every  vestige  and  semblance 
ot  political  influence  is  eliminated.  Indeed,  to  my 
mind  the  absolute  separation  which  has  been  practi- 
cally efTected  between  liquor  and  politics  is  a  conspi- 
cuous merit.  Again,  Scandinavian  control  brings 
about  progressive  reform  by  educating  public  opinion. 
The  South  Carolina  plan,  being  nearly  prohibitive  in 
character,  is  a  measure  too  far  in  advance  of  public 
opinion  to  be  accepted  and  enforced  to-day. 

The  minor  points  of  similarity  represent  borrowings 
from  Scandinavian  practice.  They  include  reduction 
in  the  number  of  places  of  sale,  early  closing,  selling 
only  for  cash,  and  furnishing  pure  liquor.  Presumably, 
also,  gambling  and  immorality  are  divorced  from  dis- 
pensaries, as  they  are  in  every  instance  from  the  com- 
pany's liquor-shops  in  Sweden  and  Norway.  The 
South  Carolina  plan  ofifers  avenues  of  political  inter- 
ference and  possibilities  of  corrupt  exploitation. 
Revenue  and  partisan  convenience  may  easily  become 
dominant  motives.  In  these  vital  features  it  must  be 
distinguished  from  the  Scandinavian  system,  from 
which  it  is  often  popularly  and  erroneously  supposed 
to  have  borrowed  its  main  features. 

Notwithstanding  the  variety  of  American  experi- 
ments in  controlling  the  drink  traffic,  results  show  in  a 


94 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


l'- 

1! 


general  way  that  practically  nothing  has  been  accom- 
plished. In  1850  the  consumption  of  all  kinds  of 
liquor  averaged  4.08  gallons  per  inhabitant ;  in  1892 
it  was  17.04  gallons,  considerably  more  than  a  fourfold 
increase.  During  this  period  the  consumption  of 
spirits  diminished,  it  is  true,  from  2J  to  li  gallons  jt7(f;- 
capUa,  but  beer-drinking  shows  an  advance  from  1.58 
to  15.10  gallons  per  head  of  population.  Wine-drink- 
ing increased  only  slightly,  viz.,  from  0.27  to  0.44 
gallon  per  capita.  Taking  the  year  1874 — chosen 
because  at  that  time  the  oldest  Swedish  company,  ihe 
Gothenburg,  secured  the  licenses  for  the  retail  sales  of 
spirits  in  addition  to  the  bar  trade,  which  was  conceded 
it  in  1865 — and  making  a  comparison  with  the  present, 
the  consumption  of  spirits  and  wines  in  the  United 
States  has  remained  stationary,  but  beer-drinking  has 
very  much  more  than  doubled.  It  is  true  that  during 
the  last  half-century  the  United  States  has  received 
large  accessions  of  populations  from  countries  where 
beer  is  the  national  beverage,  and  doubtless  it  will  be 
said  that  since  spirit-drinking  has  not  advanced  it  is 
unfair  to  assume  deterioration  in  habits.  It  must  be 
conceded,  however,  that  no  progress  has  been  made. 

There  is  another  significant  fact.  Returns  of  the 
prison  population  in  the  United  States  show  an  increase 
of  358  persons  per  million  inhabitants  during  the  last 
census-period.  The  advance  has  been  greatest  in  the 
North  Atlantic  division,  which  contains  the  largest  city 
populations.  Exactly  what  proportion  of  criminality 
springs  from  drink  is  a  question  which,  so  far,  has  not 
been  accurately  determined.  The  best  studies,  how- 
ever, go  to  show  that  tippling  is  a  prolific  source  of 
wrongdoing  ;  indeed,  probably  the  most  potent  factor 
in  petty  crime. 


THE  COiMPANY  SYSTEM. 


95 


Here,  then,  is  a  summary  of  the  situation.  Prohibi- 
tion, local  option,  State  monopoly,  high-license  and 
low-license,  have  been  tried,  and  most  of  them  during 
long  periods  and  in  many  parts  of  the  country. 

The  consumption  of  liquor  has  increased  and  the 
prison  population  is  rapidly  advancing. 

The  proportion  of  licenses  to  inhabitants  in  large 
cities  often  now  attains  disgraceful  proportions.  In 
the  257  largest  cities  the  ratio  of  saloon  licenses  to 
inhabitants  is  i  to  250. 

The  alliance  between  liquor  and  politics  is  being 
drawn  closer  and  closer. 

There  remain  three  leading  alternatives  in  future 
action. 

1.  Hopelessly  to  give  up  the  struggle,  at  least  for 
the  present,  and  allow  the  evil  to  become  unendurable, 
trusting  to  a  great  wave  of  moral  enthusiasm  to  sweep 
it  entirely  away.  Municipalities  exercise  this  method 
to  free  themselves  from  political  corruption,  but  it  is 
generally  noticed  that  spasms  of  virtue  come  at  longer 
intervals,  while  relapses  follow  more  speedily  and  are 
more  severe.  Generally  speaking,  the  last  condition 
of  the  patient  is  worse  than  the  first.  Such  doctrines 
are  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  They  cannot  for  one 
moment  be  admitted  in  dealing  with  grave  moral 
issues,  because  ere  long  recuperative  virtue  would  be 

baucbed  and  silenced. 

2.  Great  numbers  of  people,  while  candidly  admit- 
ting that  present  conditions  are  not  satisfactory,  are  so 
wedded  to  preconceived  motions,  or  attached  to  a 
narrow  system,  that  they  will  not  hear  of  moving  out- 
side of  regulation  methods.  They  are  partisans  of  a 
faith-cure  such  as  prohibition  at  this  time  is, 
when  applied  to  large  cities.     More,  perhaps,  believe 


.1 
M 

M 
1. 


96 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


in  very  mild  homoeopathic  treatment,  and  so  recom- 
mend high-license,  forgetting  that  a  consolidation  of 
liquor  interests  and  the  exercise  of  political  favoritism 
are  necessary  incidents  thereto.  Instead  of  removing 
it,  the  impulse  of  private  gain  is  stimulated  by  success 
being  rendered  uncertain  unless  business  is  pushed 
and  resorts  made  seductive.  No-license — or  local 
option,  as  it  is  usually  called — cannot  be  successfully 
enforced  in  the  case  of  large  municipalities  unless  there 
is  some  adjacent  community  nearby  upon  which  to 
unload  the  burden.  I  doubt  very  much  if  Cambridge 
could  have  shown  such  good  results  did  not  a  bridge 
span  the  stretch  of  water  between  it  and  Boston. 

3.  The  third  alternative  is  to  study  impartially  the 
liquor  problem  from  all  points  of  view,  and  adopt  those 
methods  which  have  been  proven  most  efficient  in 
practice  as  measures  of  progressive,  if  not  ideal, 
reform. 

There  has  been  formed  recently,  with  headquarters 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  national  Committee  of 
Fifty  on  the  study  of  the  liquor  problem.  Distin- 
guished men  in  clerical,  professional,  academic  and 
business  stations,  representing  all  shades  of  opinion, 
are  banded  together  with  the  sound  determination  to 
probe  the  matter  rationally  and  thoroughly.  The  very 
names  of  Presidents  Seth  Low,  Eliot,  Oilman,  and 
Andrews;  Doctors  Billings,  Welch,  Bowditch,  and 
Chittenden ;  Bishops  Potter  and  Vincent,  Fathers 
Doyle  and  Conaty,  and  the  Reverend  Doctors  Mun- 
ger,  Peabody,  and  Felix  Adler;  Francis  A.Walker, 
Carroll  D.  Wright,  William  E.  Dodge,  W.  Byard 
Cutting,  and  Robert  Treat  Paine,  are  a  guarantee  of 
sincere  purpose  and  determined  aim.  When  such 
men  as  these  and  twenty-nine  others  scarcely   less 


THE  COMPANY  SYSTEM. 


97 


distinguished  surrender  time  and  attention  and  con- 
tribute money  and  effort  to  the  work,  it  does  not  seem 
unreasonable  to  hope  for  good  results.  Gauj^ing  tlie 
attitude  of  fellow-members  by  a  personal  standard,  no 
question  could  be  approached  with  greater  earnest- 
ness. Four  leading  sub-committees  will  investigate 
the  physiological  and  pathological  effects  of  alcohol 
upon  the  human  system,  the  legislative  status  of 
the  drink  traffic  and  the  success  attending  various 
forms  of  control,  economic  phases  with  relation  to 
crime,  pauperism,  industrial  efficiency,  and  finally, 
ethical  aspects  in  their  broadest  extensions.  When 
results  are  reached  and  published,  the  American 
people  will  have  data  for  judgment  which  have  never 
existed  before.  To  my  mind,  one  reason  why  so  little 
solid  advance  has  hitherto  been  made  is  that  the  liquor 
problem  has  been  largely  dealt  with  from  the  stand- 
point of  sentiment.  Sentiment  is  undoubtedly  a  tre- 
mendous force,  '^ut,  like  other  motive- powers,  unless 
usefully  directed,  no  progress  can  be  made.  A  loco- 
motive with  furnace  blazing  and  lever  drawn  may 
remain  at  a  complete  standstill.  It  must  have  a  track 
upon  which  to  run  if  ground  is  to  be  traversed  and  a 
goal  reached.  Now,  this  national  Committee  of  Fifty, 
if  it  does  nothing  else,  will  certainly  lay  a  track. 

In  the  meantime,  thoughtful  people  in  the  United 
States  are  turning  to  the  Scandinavii'n  method  as  the 
best  and  safest  means  of  control.  The  publication  in 
1893  of  the  official  report  which  the  writer  had  the 
honor  to  make  to  the  United  States  Department  ot 
Labor  struck  a  responsive  chord.  The  first  edition, 
numbering  several  thousand,  v\as  speedily  exhausted. 
The  distribution  record  of  this  public  document  dis- 
closed the  gratifying  fact  that  a  very  huge  propor- 
tion of  applicants  belonged  to  the  Christian  ministry. 


98 


THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


A  little  over  a  year  ago,  Massachusetts,  which  has 
always  taken  the  lead  amongst  American  States  in 
industrial  ;.nd  social  reform,  began  lo  evince  signs  of 
particular  interest.  A  committee  of  propaganda  com- 
posed of  many  of  the  most  influential  citizens  was 
formed.  In  this  body  clergymen  of  various  denomi- 
nations were  liberally  represented.  Indeed,  a  p  .' ,- 
lished  list  of  one  hundred  of  the  most  prominent  expo- 
nents shows  more  than  one-fourth  to  be  ministers. 
The  governor  appointed  a  strong  legislative  commis- 
sion to  study  the  question  and  report  a  bill.  The 
measure  was  discussed  in  the  Legislature  last  spring, 
but  was  finally  defeated,  principally  because  of  the 
liquor  interest,  in  combination  with  a  few  misguided 
prohibitionists,  by  one  vote.  Considering  the  brief 
time  a  measure  of  such  great  public  importance  had  to 
become  known  and  properly  understood,  it  is  felt  that 
a  great  moral  victory  has  been  achieved  and  that  final 
""ocess  ac  an  early  date  is  reasonably  certain. 

An  encouraging  feature  of  the  Massachusetts  agita- 
tion is  that  the  hearty  co-operation  of  many  of  the 
more  intelligent  prohibitionists  has  been  enlisted. 
The  chairman  of  the  State  prohibition  committee  and 
their  candidate  for  Governor  in  1890,  declared  publicly 
that  it  seemed  to  him  *'  wiser  to  encourage  than  to 
antagonize  the  movement."  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore, 
the  world-renowned  champion  of  woman's  progress  and 
a  consistent  temperance  advocate,  wrc'.,  "  First,  last, 
and  always,  I  am  a  prohibitionist,  and  I  favor  the 
Norwegian  bill  because,  if  righteously  administered, 
its  tendency  will  be  towards  prohibition,  and  if  our 
good  temperance  people  would  carefully  study  the 
bill  I  thinly  their  objections  would  disappear.  I  hope 
the  bill  will  pass." 


THE  COMI'ANV  SVSTF.M. 


99 


Such  unqualified  endorsements — many  more  might 
be  quoted— from  great  leaders  in  the  radical  temperance 
party  ought  to  canst  persons  of  similar  views  eveiy- 
where  to  hesitate  before  assuming  a  hostile  attitude. 
Absolutely  no  sacrifice  of  principle  is  demanded  The 
end  is  the  same ;  the  way  of  reaching  it,  if  longer,  is 
surer  and  safer  to  travel. 

The  liquor  interest  is  bound  to  fight  the  Scandina- 
vian plan  to  the  last,  for  with  them  it  is  a  struggle  of 
life  and  death.  Promoters  of  public  weal  will  favor  it. 
The  prohibitionists,  if  they  do  not  positively  hold  the 
balance  of  power,  are  at  least  a  potent  factor  in  the  con- 
test. There  are  numerous  instances  in  the  past  where 
this  high-minded,  self-sacrificing  element  of  the  com- 
munity have  been  found  in  alliance  with  rumsellers  to 
defeat  conservative  measures  of  control.  While  such 
an  attitude  involves  censure,  abuse  should  be  spared. 
The  error  has  been  in  judgment,  not  in  motive.  What 
organized  bodies  of  abstainers  will  do  for  or  against 
the  introduction  of  the  Scandinavian  plan  is  a  most 
important  question.  Will  they  help  the  liquor  interest 
to  defeat  the  scheme  and  then  retire  to  the  hilltop  to 
invoke  the  judgment  of  Heaven  on  all  concerned  in  the 
traffic ;  or  will  they  conceive  the  truer  mission  of 
responsibility  for  the  wisest  practicable  management  of 
this  weighty  social  matter? 

Helping  along  the  company  system  is  wise  policy  as 
well  as  a  humanitarian  act.  He  must  be  very  obtuse 
who  cannot  understand  that  one  or  two  generations 
passed  with  restricted  consumption,  diminished  drunk- 
enness, fewer  temptations  to  drink,  and  a  wholesome 
offsetting  of  the  impulses  to  indulgence  by  the  crea- 
tion of  better  social  centres  for  the  poor,  the  best  of  all 
vantage-grounds  for  ultimate  annihilation  of  abuse  will 


l> 


TFlr.   T.IQUOR  TRAFFIC. 


be  reached.  Countries  are  jjroanin^  under  the  liquor 
curse.  Does  it  not  behoove  all  well-disposed  people 
to  cast  aside  prejudice  in  order  to  ^ain  substantial 
betterment?  Let  not  the  attitude  of  abstainers  in 
relation  to  controlling^  the  "  unholy  thin^  "  any  longer 
savor  of  the  conduct  of  the  priest  and  tht  Levite — 
passinc^  by  on  the  other  side. 

It  is  no  part  of  m>  present  purpose  to  find  fault.  I 
wish  only  to  appeal.  This  volume  has  been  written  in 
the  hope  of  contributing^  to  public  enlightenment,  and 
so  furthering  the  laudable  ends  which  the  Bishop  of 
Chester  and  his  distinguished  associates  have  in  view 
for  England  ;  and  likewise  in  the  hope  that  aid  might  be 
given  similar  workers  in  Massachusetts,  whose  public- 
spirited  undertaking  will  accomplish  great  good  not 
only  for  their  own  State,  but  also  for  the  whole 
country.  Personally,  I  believe  profoundly  in  the  sys- 
tem, because  it  operates  educationally,  and  not  solely 
by  force  of  law.  I  grant  it  is  not  an  ideal  to  those  who 
look  upon  every  sort  of  alcoholic  drinking  as  unfortu- 
nate or  wrong,  but  it  furnishes  the  surest  path  of 
progress.  The  true  ideal  is  as  far  ueyond  this  system 
as  it  is  beyond  prohibition  maintriined  by  police  power : 
an  ideal  which  cannot  be  attained  until  the  moral 
nature  of  man  shall  have  been  so  renovated  that  he 
will  instinctively  or  rationally  shun  all  resort  to  evil, 
and  make  wise  use  of  everything  with  which  he  comes 
in  contact.  As  a  means  of  education  towards  so  lofty 
a  standard,  the  Scandinavian  plan  presents  superior 
advantages.  Powerful  object-lessons  awaken  the  intel- 
ligence and  move  the  heart.  Best  of  all,  it  offers  a 
common  meeting-ground  where  radical  and  conserva- 
tive exponents  of  temperance  may  join  hands  with 
simple  wellwishers  of  the  race,  to  advance  momentous 
human  interests. 


INDKX. 


Alcdholic  content  of  spirits,    lo,  55, 

73- 
American  experience,  ^5-95. 
Audit  of  accounts,  38,  32. 

l:.ir-tra<le,  10. 

liars,  16-17. 

Heer,  Sale  of,  lo,  19,  23,  4!,  78,  80. 

nerpen — 

t'apital  stock,  ao. 

Company's  sales,  54. 

Ljicnses,  63, 

Net  surplus  profits,  20. 

Total  consumption  of  spirits,  55. 
I'onus  to  nianaRers,  -.'3. 
I'y-laws    of   companies,    15,   22;    in 
advance  of  law,  16,  23,  73. 

Capital  stock,  14,  20,  56. 
Cliccks  on  companies,  15,  73. 
Christiania — 

Capital  stock,  14,  20. 

( 'ompany's  sales,  53. 

(Compensation,  51-52. 

Licenses  in  private  hands,  52. 

Net  surplus  prolits,  20. 

Shareholders,  13 
Cliristianssand,  56-59. 
Civi<:  greed,  28,  30,  74-75. 
Clubs,  25. 

Consumption  of  beer,  20,  41,  65,  94, 
Consumpt    )n  of  spirits — 

Decrf    se  of,  34-42,  83, 

Extra  .oral,  45-46. 

at  Christimssand,  56,  57,  59. 

"  Bergen,  54,  55. 

"  Gothenljiirg,  43,  45. 

"  Stockholm,  47,  48,  49. 

in  Norway,  36-39. 

"  Sweden,  35-36. 
('rime,  67,  94. 

Dispensary  system — 

Advantages  claimed  for,  90-91. 

Not  to  be  confounded  with  Scan- 
dinavian system,  92-93. 

Origin  of,  91. 

South  Carolina,  89. 
Distilling,  9,  10,  36. 
Drunkenness,  Arrests  for,  64. 

Decrease  of,  65-66. 

Resulting  froin  beer-drinking,  65. 

Early  closing,  17-18,  73. 


Kating-houRcs,  17,  ly,  (q. 
Education,  68. 

Employees  ol  companies,  a-.;-23,  7.). 
Entert.iinnient  of  the  people,  18-19, 

69. 
Excise,  I,aw  of,  la. 
Extent  of  system,  la. 
Extra  local  consumption,  44-46,  55  50. 

Food,  Provision  of,  17,  23. 

("lambliiip,  36,  37,  72,  i)2. 
(lOod  T<:mpl;irs,  76-77. 
CotlHMiburg — 

Capital  stock,  -O. 

Decreased  consumption,  45. 

Licenses,  61. 

Surplus  i)rofits,  20. 

Table  of  company's  sales,  43. 

Habitual  drunkards,  24,  80. 

High  license,  88. 

Home  consumption  of  spirits,  8(. 

Hotels,  25. 

Hours  of  Ijusiness,  16,  17,  18,  57,  74. 

Immorality,  a6,  27,  72,  92. 

Inspectors,  24, 

Interest  to  shareholders,  13. 

Kindergartens,  68. 

Legal  defects  of  system,  80-81. 
Licenses — 

Disposal  of,  II  13. 
to  sell  beer,  19,  63. 
Ratio  to  population-  Hergen,  0^  > 
Christians'and,    63;     Christi- 
ania,    63;      Ciotlrenburg,    61; 
Stockholm,   T.a ;    Norway,   60; 
Sweden,  60;  United  States,  95. 
Reduction  of,  16,  71-72. 
Licensing  atithorities,  11. 

"  periods,  15, 

Local  option,  87. 

Man.ngers'  salaries,  22,  23. 

Massachusetts  —  elTort  to  introduce 
Norwegian  system,  100. 

Minors,  Sale>  to,  123,  73.   6, 

Mitchell,  Report  of  Consul,  78. 

Monopoly  of  trade  essential  to  suc- 
cess, 53. 


102 


INDEX. 


Norway — 

Capital  stock  of  companies,  30. 
I)ecr';av;il  congiunption  of  spir- 
its, 36-39. 
Net  surplus  profits,  ao. 

Pauperism,  66-67, 

I'olitics  and  litiuor  trafTur,  71,  86,  89. 

I'ricf  lists,  16, 

Priviite  profit,  Eliiiiination  of,  13,38, 

39.  70' 
Profits,  Amount  of,  ao,  a8,  39. 
Profits,  l^istrihiition  of— 

Kinlatid,  33. 

Norway,  13,37-28,  67,  83. 

Sweden,  27-39, 
Prohibition,  11,  12,  85  87, 
Piohihitionisfs,  95,  9^-100. 
Public    authorities    and    companies, 

15-16,  a6. 
Public  opinion  cfTectivc,  37. 

Rational  reform,  96. 
Ueadinu  rooms,  19. 
Ready-money  payments,  17. 
Rc'  rt-ation  of  the  people,  69. 
•*  Respertable"  dr.nking,  83-84. 
Kcstaurants,  25. 
Retail  trade,  10.  ^3,  47,  53.  54. 
Kural  districts,  11,  12,  38,  33. 


w. 


spir 


Saloons,  Uses  of,  68-69, 

Shares,  13-13. 

Shareholders,  13-15. 

South     Carolina    Dispensary    La 

89  93. 
Stockholm — 

Capital  stock,  20, 

Compeiisatio'     31,  49-51. 

Decreased   consumption  of 
its,  49. 

Number  of  licenses,  63. 

Sales  by  company,  47, 

Surplus  profits,  20, 
Sul)-licensiiiK,  21,  2a,  25,  36,  75, 
Sunday-clos'HK,  73. 
Sweden,   Consumption   of  liquor   in, 
35-36. 

'I'echniciil  schools,  68. 

Temperance  party ,  Attitude  of,  75-78, 

83. 
"The  trade,"  Attitude  of,  '^g. 
Total  abstinenre  bodies,  40-41,  75-83. 

United  Slates,  Consumption  of  li()nor 
in,  94. 

Wholesale  trade,  10,  81. 
Wine,  Sale  of,  10,  19,  80-81. 


Illf 


